The stalker part2
by elessar73
Summary: Mary Clark is locked up and the Eppes resume their 'normal' life. But what happens when the maniac breaks free and starts the hunting again? Who will be there to save Charlie this time?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everybody,**

**finally it's done! Enjoy the second part of the 'Stalker'-stories.**

**Disclaimer: I don't possess 'Numb3rs'!**

**A special thank you to starfishyeti for her beta-skills!**

**The stalker part 2**

**by elessar73**

***** 1. chapter : Underneath the surface *****

_Don ran across the Cal Sci campus, calling out Charlie's name, but he didn't answer. When he reached his brother's office, he found it abandoned. There was a trail of rose petals across the floor.__ He followed the trail and it led him back outside the building and towards the parking lot where he found Charlie sitting in his car. Charlie's face was covered with blood and __he wasn't breathing...__he wasn't breathing! Don tried to open the door, but it was locked. He stared inside; helpless __thousands of lifeless __roses filled the inside of the car. He could smell their scent__ through the closed door. He rammed his fists against the window,__ screaming Charlie's name and suddenly Charlie was gone. Don squeezed his eyes shut,__ and when he opened them again he was standing__in a hospital, or more precisely in the morgue of a hospital. He looked around, but nobody was there. "Hello!" his voice sounded strange in his own ears. He walked across__ the room__, attracted to a door on the far end. When he reached it, he risked a glance through the__ small window in the middle of the door. W__hat he saw made his legs crumple__. He crashed to the ground, __tears streaming__ down his face, his breathing was shallow and rapid__. 'Charlie! No!__ I was supposed to keep you safe, it couldn't be true. Charlie!'__ He tried to get a hold of the door knob, but he couldn't reach it. It was too high, he had__ failed Charlie! Charlie!_

Don woke to the sound of his own scream. 'Charlie', he whispered. His hands clenched the sheets of his bed as he squeezed his eyes to banish the memories. Sweat run down his face, his breath came out in gasps and his heart was racing. Thank god he had decided to spend the night in his apartment and not on his brother's couch. He had no idea how to explain his nightmares. These dreams had been torturing him for weeks and he just couldn't get rid off them. The first time ever since he had woken up in a cold sweat and the name of his brother on his lips he had checked with the psychiatric ward to see if Mary Clark was still behind bars. To Don dismiss Mary Clark had been settled in psychiatry out of town. The clinic for nervous diseases which had a separate high security unit for convicts was situated in the Nappa Valley, one of the nicest spots in the region. Just the picturing Mary Clark sitting safe and sound amongst the beautiful vineyards had made Don almost go crazy. But after he had checked the environment on his own he had relaxed. The security level of '_ Sun Valley_' was high standard and Don couldn't find a flaw in the security system. And as long as Mary was out of his sight he could put up with her being where she was, at least he tried. Don smirked-, by now the orderlies were probably thinking that he was the one who should be in therapy. Just the thought of the woman who had tried to kill his little brother made him nervous and somehow vulnerable. Just a few months ago he had come way too close to losing Charlie and he wouldn't let it happened again. He was just wondering how to accomplish that goal.

It took him sometime to get his heartbeat back to normal. Don took some deep breaths and tried to relax. His hand instinctively reached for his cell phone. He flipped the device open and the display lighted up. The light stung his weary eyes. He squeezed them shut for a brief moment. Opening them again they grew wide with surprise when he realized that it was just 1:35 am. _'That may not be the best time to call the psychiatric ward-, although I've__ done it before.'_ Don fought with himself. He knew that he was acting stupidly, if Mary Clark had managed to break out, he and his team would be the first to know about it. On the other hand... Don dialed the number he knew by heart and waited for the call to go through. He heard the first ring and hung up. _'Stupid..' _He called himself slamming the phone shut and placing it back on the nightstand. Don rubbed the palms of his hands across his forehead considering what to do next. Sleep wasn't an option, the nightmare had left him bright awake. _'I may as well check on Charlie.'_ Knowing his brother he was sure Charlie wouldn't be asleep by now. A faint smile played around the corners of his mouth. Don came up to a sitting position in his bed and rested the back against the headback to get himself comfortable. The agent grabbed the cellphone back again and dailed Charlie's number.

Prof. Charles Eppes sat hunched over at his desk and stared at a picture in front of him. His dark eyes were glistering with tears. The young man sighed deeply. "Amita," he whispered in a silent voice caressing the photo lightly. Finally he dragged his view away from the image of the woman he loved so deeply. But Amita had chosen to live without him. If she could do so he could as well. Determined he rose to his feet. With the back of his hand he wiped away the last tears, took the picture and turned towards a box standing in the far corner of his room. The young man had spent a good part of the day to sort through his belongings. He had selected all the items that belonged or remembered him of Amita and had stuffed them into a box. Charlie kneeled down and opened the box. A smile slipped across his face when he saw the teddy-bear on top of the stuff. He had given it to Amita on their first anniversary. He had taken Amita to a fancy restaurant and later that evening they had gone to the beach to sit arm in arm in the warm sand and had listened to the sound of the sea. At that time they had promised to love each other forever. Charlie swallowed down the tears that start to threaten him again. It was just then that Charlie recognized that he had the bear pressed tight to his chest. He stroked the soft coat with his fingertips and kissed him at the top of the head. _'Goodbye Amita!'_ He placed the bear and photo in the box and shut it. He would sent in to India. He couldn't stand to be near those things anylonger. He had to carry on. And he would. The request he got from Prof. Rubenstein to help him on the mathematical side of his new physic-project would give him the opportunity for that. The sound of his cellphone distracted the young professor from his dreams about new possibilitys. He reached for his phone.

"Eppes,"

"Hey Buddy," The voice of his brother made Charlie grin, but soon concern took over.

"Don, are you okay? And Dad?" In a nervous gesture he rubbed his eyes. Don noticed the fear in his brother voice at once.

"Yes Charlie, everything's just fine."

Charlie let out a deep breath. "So, what's up." He wondered why his brother called him in the middle of the night.

" Uhm," Don searched for the right words. "I just wanted to hear your voice, I guess."

"O-kay, "Charlie couldn't shake off his concern completley. "So you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just couldn't sleep and thought..."

"Thought what Donnie?" Charlie sat down at his desk again awaiting his brother's answer.

"Nothin' Charlie." Don decided it was better to change the subject " Have I waken you up? "

"No, I'm still at CalSci."

"Charlie-, it's in the middle of the night. What are you doing there?" Now it was Don's turn to be concerned.

Charlie didn't miss the change in Don's tone of voice, but he couldn't do much to soothen him.

"Just some sorting..." Charlie answered clipped.

"I see." Reluclantly Don slipped the object. Obviously his brother didn't want to say more about it.

For awhile the two brother's sat in silence. They found comfort in the knowledge that the other was on the other line.

"So something more I can do for you?" Charlie finally broke the spell of the silence.

"No...I think I can go to sleep now." Don said in a weary voice. " You should go home too, Buddy."

Charlie grinned sheepishley. "Yes Sir." He said in a teasing voice. "I'm ready to leave."

"Okay, drive careful and good night." Just before Don hung up, he heard his brother's voice again.

"Oh Don, before I forget - we're scheduled for dinner tomorrow."

Don frowned and strained his brain. Finally he remembered. " Oh yeah. I'll be there."

"Okay, good night."

The brother's hung up the phone. And while Don slipped back into his bed Charlie packed his purse and headed for the parking lot.

The parking lot laid in darkness. Clouds covered the sky and hindered the light of the moon and stars to light up the night. The conditions were perfect for the person hiding behind a tree nearby. Dressed in black she fused with her surroundings completley. Green eyes were focused on the blue Prius. A single red rose was attached at the the view of it made the observer smile. '_I'll get you Charlie.' _The sound of approaching steps dragged her out of her ponderings.

Charlie Eppes reached his car. A frown build on his forehead when he noticed the rose sticking behind the windshield wiper. A shudder ran down his spine and his breathing increased. Memories of the assault against him just a few month ago appeared clearly in his mind._ 'That's impossible. Don would have told me when something is up.'_ His dark eyes scanned every corner of the parking lot convincing himself that he was alone. He took in a few deep breaths to calm down. His hands were shaking when he reached for the flower. The young man grabbed it with just his fingertips and throw it on the curb._ ' Forget it.' _Charlie got in his car and drove home.

Hate sparkeling eyes watched Charlie when he dismissed the flower. The woman clenched her hands to fists to keep the rage waving through her body abay. _'We're not done yet, Sweetie.' _An evil grin distorted the face. _'You'll always meet two times, Charlie Eppes.'_

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to those who favorited/alerted this story. You are all awesome! But a review would be nice,too!**

**Thanks to starfishyeti, my wonderful beta-reader!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 2. chapter : History repeats itself *****

Oliver Blum paced the aisle of the basement from left to right, checking his clock by every turn he took.

"Damned," the young orderly hissed through clenched teeth. "Mary, where are you?"

Rubbing his hands cross his hair he wondered how he could have ended in a situation like this.

**Flashback**

_Six months ago Mary Clark was submitted from L.A.-State-Prison to his station in the psychiatric ward 'Sun Valley'. When Oliver had seen her for the first time, he'd realized her gorgeous green eyes at once. He'd fallen for her the moment she'd blinked at him. Just the look had made him shudder and butterlies had started to dance in his stomach. His head had become the image of an overripe tomate, at least it had felt that way, when a wave of heat had rushed through his whole body. Embarrased by his reaction he'd turned away, but somehow he was sure, that the woman had noticed his reaction already. __Mary'd smirked in his direction. She had found her prey. 'Men were so easy.' Oliver Blum had filled the papers and requested formulars and had learned that Mary was a murderer - a psycotic serial killer. His heart had skipped a beat-, this couldn't be true. He'd collected so much experiences with maniacs while working in the psychiatry and Mary just didn't fit in. Not for him, at least. The young man was eager to find out everything about Mary Clark, he'd wanted to understand what was going on in her mind. In the following days the orderly had volunteered for every available shift in the track, taking every oppurtunity to be near the woman. He'd observed her through the small window in the door while she was eating or sleeping and soon knew her by heart, he had thought. Ten days after they first had met, it finally had happened. Blum had lead Mary back to her room after her daily therapy session. He had an supporting arm around her shoulders when she'd suddenly turned her head into his direction. Green sharp eyes had stared in his face. Immedialtley Oliver'd felt his cheeks began to flush, sweat had appeared on his forehead. A smile had played around Mary's mouth but it hadn't reached her eyes, they had remained cold and icy, but Oliver was too far gone to notice. "Like what you see?" Mary had asked in a hoarse voice sending the young man nearly over the edge. Mary had leaned closer to his head and when her mouth finally had found his ear she'd whispered. "I can give you what you want. Since the first day you saw me you dreamed about touching me, right? I can see it in your eyes." Her breath had touched his earlope and Oliver'd felt arosal rising inside him. He'd let out a sharp breath. The sweat had ran down his face freely. 'Oh my God! This can't be happening.' He'd thought to himself. The next thing he'd felt was Mary's sweet and tender lips on his mouth. Her tongue had careesed his lips softly. The young man had moaned slightly fighting the feelings boiling up in him. Suddenly he'd felt a hand on his groin rubbing up and was more then Oliver could take. He'd pushed Mary roughly away from him. His breaths had come out in gaps. Oliver's mind was reeling, what he did was wrong, but he couldn't fight it. Roughly he'd dragged Mary into her room, in the knowlegde to find some privacy in there. Due to Prof. Sullivan's therapy concept there were no surveillliance cameras in the patient's rooms. The leader of the facility believed that his patients need their personal freedom to regain his health back. Prof. Sullivan had achieved amazing result with his therapy and was well accepted in the scientifically world. For Oliver it just came in handy, he had slammed the door shut and had hugged Mary tightly. It was all Mary could do not to giggle. 'Men are just stupid.' She'd let her hand glide down Oliver's tensed body rubbing softly across his chest. Her hands had finally found their goal. She'd opened his slacks and had let her hand slid into his boxers. The young man had grunted under her touch. Mary's eyes had lid up evily. 'Busted. You're mine.'_

**Flashback end**

The ruttling of an iron door brought Oliver back into present. His blue eyes snapped back into focus. He hold his breath when the door slid open and Mary emerged out into the aisle. "You're fucking late." The young man hissed her way inventorring her apperance. He saw small red spots along her forearm and wondered if it may blood. But right now he didn't even bother to ask her. Without another word he grabbed the woman by her shoulders and pushed her along the way barley keeping his temper.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked in an innocent voice. She looked back over her shoulder her eyelids halfway closed giving her a shy touch. Oliver swallowed hard. Just that look had the power to melt him. He shook his head viogrously."You're late. The shift change is just thirty minutes away."

"Keep it low," She whispered his way. "It's early enough and ..." Mary smirked, knowing which buttom she had to push to keep the man on the line. "Thirty minutes are far more time than we need." In a vivid movement Mary turned on her heels finding herself eye to eye with Oliver. She tusseled his short blond hair with just her fingertips. The touch alone sent jolts of joy through the man's body. A perdoratery smile formed on Mary's face when she felt Oliver tremble under her touch. "Maybe you´re right." Oliver murmured through clenched teeth. It took all of his self-control to not kiss her right there. Mary turned back around walking through the dark basement till they reached the entrance to the secret passage that would lead them straight to her room. It really came in handy that the psychiatric ward was lodged in a rebuild castle with all its secrets, and an even better thing was, that Oliver knew everything about it.

The young man had a hint for history and old buildings. Curios as he was, he had studied the old maps and plans of the building he worked in and had found out, that a net of secret passages run through it and even led out of it. Asking why he had told Mary about it, he couldn´t recall the reason. It had just bubbled out of him, after the two had spent one of their 'special' nights together. Mary dissapeared directly into the bathroom when they entered her room. While Oliver heard Mary turning on the shower, he pushed the shelf, covering the entrace back in place. Just a few minutes later the woman stepped out again, barely covered with a towel. Dropletts of water hung in her hair and ran in small trickles down her face and throat till it was caught in the soft towel bound loosley around her chest. Oliver pressed her roughly against the wall and kissed her heavily on the mouth. He let his lips glided along her neck licking up the water. The taste was just amazing and while he really believed he was in control it was he who was wrapped around the woman's little finger. Mary let him believe what ever he wanted, she just reacted to his moves. She closed her eyes and let the assault happened. When the man was done he get his clothes back in shape and left the room without looking back, a satisfied grin on his face. The turn of the key in the door lock set Mary in motion. She grabbed the dismissed towel on her way back to the bathroom and threw it into the hamper. Her hands rubbed across her tired face-, she really was out of practice. Mary stared into the mirror, her green eyes stared back at her, emotinless, but lighting up, when she thought about the young man with the curly hairs, covered in blood and waiting to be found.

_'You'll can't hide, Mickey.'_

_'Bitch!' _Her mother's voice was back pushing her towards the edge again. '_I will prove to you than I'm valuable mommy!' _She turned toward she shower. Her clothes laid in a heap on the ground. She stepped over them and started to rinse the tube. The flood of the water washed away the stains of blood. Mary watched the light red water vanish into the flowing off and with it all evidence pointing to her. When all the blood was gone she turned off the water, grabbed her clothes, folded them neatly and stowed them into the cabinet behind the extra towels.

Mary laid in her bed. She turned to her left side and opened the first drawer of her nightstand. The woman rumaged through its contents till she found what she was looking for. She squeezed her eyes shut for just a moment and prepared herself for the next step. When she opened her eyes slowly she focused on the picture she held in both hands, just a few inches away from her face. Her breathing became rapid while her vision changed from blurry to clear. ' _Charlie_.' She whispered caressing the photo slightly. Her body started to tremble while she pressed the picture to her chest letting out her breath in gasps. '_I still love you so. You'll get your second chance. I guess you earned it.' _She smirked. After pressing a kiss onto the picture she laid it back into the drawer._´Our time will come.`_ Taking in a deep sigh she turned around driffting into sleep while imagining what to do next.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Once again, thanks for reading...hope you like it so far. Just let me know!**

**A special thank you to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part 2**

**by elessar73**

***** 3. chapter : Gifts and Surprises *****

Charlie pulled his car onto the parking lot of the 'Mirage'. His family had discovered the Spanish restaurant by chance, during his stay in the nearby Medical center. Flashes of memory danced through Charlie's mind; green, heartless eyes watched him closely, a knife dangled over his face. Charlie shook his head violently to banish the image. This was supposed to be a happy evening and Mary Clark wouldn't destroy it, never again. The young professor checked his watch and sighed, once again, he was late. Well at least he had a good excuse. The surprise he had organized for his father and brother had needed much more attention than he'd expected.

A smile played around Charlie's mouth, picking out the destination for the holiday trip he'd wanted to give to his father and brother was the easiest part by far. Somehow he hadn't calculated all the small issues correctly. And it had happened to him, the master of numbers. Finding the perfect time when neither Don nor Alan would have any appointments was difficult. Checking with the FBI to get Don a leave of absence without him knowing was trickier, but he had done it. It's always good to have friends in high places. His grin grew into a big smile, and now he was here. The plane tickets to Hawaii together with the room reservation lay sound and safe in his briefcase. He couldn't wait to see the surprised faces of his family. Imagining the faces Don and Alan would make when the learned about the holiday trip deepened his smile. The memories of Mary Clark were forgotten.

Charlie got out of his car and walked across the gravel pathway towards the restaurant. He could hear the sound of silverware clicking on plates, fractions of conversations and laughter through the open terrace doors. It was a nice spring evening, with a cloudless sky and millions of stars shining down on him, holding the promise of a wonderful evening. Charlie was pleased; it was the perfect day for surprises. He took the steps and pushed the door to the restaurant open. Charlie scanned the room in search of his family when a waiter approached him.

"Sir," the man asked in a bright Spanish accent. "May I help you?"

"I hope so," the young professor answered nonchalantly offering his best smile. "I have a reservation for Eppes. I guess my family's already here, I'm a little late," Charlie explained when his attention was drawn towards familiar laughter. The young man's smile brightened even more. "There they are," he announced with a smile in his voice. Charlie nodded his thanks to the waiter and crossed the dining room to get to his family.

"Hey," Charlie greeted his father and brother rubbing across the arms and slumped down in the remaining free chair. "Sorry I'm late, but it was a little swamy at CalSci."

"That's nothing new Buddy." Don clapped his brother's shoulder. "Don't worry, the champagne was a good substitute for your presence." Don reached for the bottle seated in a champagne bucket and poured a drink for his him.

"Thanks," Charlie raised his glass. "Let's chink glasses." The three champagne glasses met in the middle above the table.

"To us," Alan offered the toast smiling brightly at his two boys thankful to have them both still around.

"So Buddy, what's about the surprise? Huh?" Don was curious to find out.

Charlie couldn't hide the grin that formed on his face. '_Big FBI brother's__ behaving__ like a little boy.' _A short glance at Alan revealed that he was eager to find out what was going on as well. "Okay," Charlie gave in a theatrical sigh on his lips. "Actually I thought we could wait till the dessert."

Don shifted uneasy on his seat. "Oh come on Buddy, don't be cruel. You've let us wait long enough." Don's curiosity was now clearly evident in his voice.

"Well, before you both explode." Charlie shook his head, but leaned down to his backpack to search through his papers. He grinned victoriously when he found what he'd been searching for. He pulled a big brown envelope out of his bag and placed it on the table right in front of him. "Well,", he started his speech, "the last few months were a little rough."

Don squeezed his eyes and wondered where his brother was going from here.

"That's the understatement of the year," Alan felt the need to add and expressed out loud, what Don was feeling.

"However," Charlie cleared his throat, when memories hit him again. "You've both done so much for me, protecting me, always being there for me, saving me." Charlie felt a wave of emotions sweep over him. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He had to finish his speech before his emotions overwhelmed him. Charlie swallowed hard as he felt his brother's concerned look of on him. "I've got something for you." The young professor pushed the envelope into the middle of the table. "That's for you."

Alan and Don shared an inquiring look, feeling unsure about what to do next. "Come on guys, open it." Charlie said to no one specifically.

"Go ahead, Dad." Don grabbed the envelope and gave it to his father. Alan hesitated to take it, somehow he was afraid of what to expect.

Charlie clapped him encouragingly on his shoulder; he had regained his composure and just wanted to enjoy the moment. "It won't bite, Dad."

Alan nodded slightly, the spell that had bound him broke and he opened the envelope. A shy smile on his face he pulled several sheets of papers out. Confused he locked eyes with Charlie. His son's dark eyes sparkled with joy. Encouraged Alan took a closer look on the papers and took in a gasping breath when he realized what he was holding in his hand.

"Charlie." Alan's eyes grew wide. "This is amazing, but..." Alan was running out of words, tears appeared in his eyes.

"Dad," Charlie pulled his father in a tight embrace. "Everything's fine. You deserve it."

Alan felt tears roll down his cheek and he could barley held back a sob. Finally he let go of his younger son and faced Don who had grabbed the papers out of his hands. Don sat there in absolute disbelief and stared numbly at the papers.

"Buddy, you shouldn't, you mustn't. I mean we're family and of course we're there for you. You don't need to pay for it." Overwhelmed with emotions Don shook his head. The agent felt tears in his eyes too, embarrassed he looked at the ground.

Charlie reached out his hand and touched his brother's arm wondering for the first time if he had done the right thing. In his imagination his family had reacted in a much different way with pure joy and delight. But instead he was looking into unbelieving faces.

"If you don't want to go I can give it back," the young man whispered softly, taken aback by the behavior of his family. He stared down at his lap.

Though Don was still caught up in his thoughts, the big brother in him didn't miss the disappointment in his little brother's voice. His head flew up to find Charlie staring with sad eyes at the ground.

"No Charlie, please, it's wonderful, just great. Two weeks in Hawaii, that's just amazing, but…" Don struggled for words. "I have a job to do, and I can't just take two weeks off."

"That's all?" Charlie asked his face brightening up again.

"Well, apart from the fact, that you shouldn't give us such a big gift, it is pretty important." Don rubbed his forehead nervously.

A fat grin spread out on Charlie's face. "It's all covered, Bro," he stated in a happy tone.

Don's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "What?"

"Like I said, I've got it all covered. You have two weeks vacation. Merrick agreed."

Don shook his head. His genius brother had really pulled out all the stops. He searched his father's eyes. They glittered with joy and Don hadn't the heart to destroy that, and in fact he didn't have a reason to destroy it at all. Happily he sighed. "Hawaii, here we come." Don grabbed his glass and held it up to clink it with his family.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**Thanks to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 4. chapter : Prelude *****

The opening of the door startled Mary out of her dreams. Her drowsy eyes flew open, while her mind was still caught up in her dream of Charlie. She took a bewildered glance around, finally realizing that she wasn't walking hand in hand along the beach with her lover. She was still imprisoned in the unfriendly and cold cage, she'd been calling home for nearly six months by now. She shook her head to clear her mind from the cobwebs dangling through her thoughts. She became more alert, when she realized a young orderly was in her room, but it wasn't Oliver. She sighed disappointedly.

Embarrassed, Mary came into a sitting position and pulled the sheet up to her chin, looking at the man.

"Morning Mary," greeted Will, the pickeled faced orderly with the long, dark greasy hair, while he pulled the curtains back from the window. Bright sunlight flooded the dim room and Mary had to shut her eyes till they became adjusted. "How are you today?" The man asked innocently.

Mary inhaled deeply, she wasn't a morning person at all, but she forced herself to answer. "Pretty well, actually." The clipped words were enough to satisfy the young man.

He nodded brusquely and opened the window. Fresh air filled the room, which helped Mary to wake up completely.

"You're scheduled for therapy in forty-fife minutes," explained Will taking a look through the cross-barred window. "It's a wonderful day, no clouds in the sky. Maybe later we can take a walk in the park, what do you think?"

When Mary didn't answer the young man turned around. Mary had paled and looked unfocusedly to the ground.

"Mary? You sure you're okay?"

"What? Oh yes, I'm fine," she stated. "It's just that I didn't remember having a therapy session this morning." Absent-mindedly she rubbed her forehead.

Will shrugged his shoulders. "Well, that's why I'm here."

Mary managed a small smile, then pushed herself to the edge of her bed to swing her legs to the ground.

"Prof. Sullivan has arranged a hypnosis session with Dr. Murphy," Will continued excitedly. "Prof. Sullivan suggested that he could help you, remembering your past and..."

Mary had stopped listening. 'How could I forget?', she asked herself. She strained her brain, trying to remember what she knew about hypnotism. Actually it wasn't that much, but it still was enough to be alarmed. She had read about people doing stupid and crazy things when they were under. ' I' m not allowed to lose control,' she muttered to herself. 'I can't risk giving away all my secrets.'

Will Jones had noticed the strange behavior of his patient. He'd known Mary for nearly three months, and never before he had seen her so lost. She seemed to be stuck in her thoughts. He approached her with three large steps and laid a supporting arm around her. "Hey Mary, look at me." He tried to get her attention.

Snapping out of her musings Mary smiled wearily at Will. "It's okay Will, it just took me by surprise, that's all."

Will looked down at her with concern. He rubbed her shoulders encouragingly. "Don't worry. It won't hurt."

"Yeah." Forcefully Mary pushed away Will's hand and got up from her bed. Her mind was spinning; hypnosis may not hurt, but it may be the end of her dreams. She needed a way out.

She turned towards the bathroom. She needed time and room to think.

:::::::::::::::

Don was up before sunrise. His first cup of coffee in his hands, he stood at the kitchen window of the Craftman and watched the sun slowly come up. The color of the sky turned from light grey to lilac, orange and yellow. Only in the early morning, when the air was still fresh and clean and the smog of the city hadn't had time to banish the clear view, were you able to see those pure colors. It was an amazing natural spectacle, making you feel a very small part of the world.

The first sunbeams touched his face and magically made him smile. He wondered if the light and colors in Hawaii were different. Somehow he couldn't think about a sheet of mist lying over the island dimming its bright expressions. He would see it soon. Don's smile deepened, when he thought about the trip and Charlie. His genius brother was always ready with a surprise, but this time he had outdone himself; ten days of sun, beaches and joy. What else could anyone ask for?

The best of all was, that Don hadn't had to worry about anything. Charlie had arranged everything, from his leave of absence to the flight and the hotel.

The smile turned into a fat grin. _'The genius has used__ his magic, again.__' _But suddenly the smile faded, an uneasy feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach - Charlie wasn't going with them.

The young professor had buried himself in his work, with no time left to even think about anything else other than math. It was Charlie's usual way of dealing with his life and everything that had happened in the last months.

Don had to admit that his brother had tried a different method, but without success. Charlie had visited a therapist, but somehow it hadn't worked out. After just two sessions Charlie had dropped the therapy and all attempts by Alan and him to make him continue had fallen on barren grounds. Charlie had denied further treatments and instead worked like a maniac.

Don sighed and took the final sip of his now lukewarm coffee. He turned around to get a refill, when he found himself looking straight into the dark brown eyes of his little brother.

"Charlie," startled, he took a deep breath in. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I saw," Charlie answered, a broad smile on his face. He clapped Don's shoulder. "Dreaming of beach-beauties, huh?"

The young man turned away to pour himself a cup of coffee and missed the shadow dancing across Don's face.

'_Something like that.'_

TBC

**I know, that was a short one, but I promise to update the next chapter this weekend!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks so much for the reviews. I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to review!**

**Thanks to the wonderful starfishyeti for her beta skills**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 5. chapter : Everything has a reason *****

Mary splashed cold water onto her face. She forced herself to marshal her thoughts; she had to find a way out of this situation. There had to be a way out, hypnosis wasn't an option.

With one hand she reached for her towel, while she turned off the water with the other. The rough fabric of the towel scratched across her skin. 'Never heard of fabric softener?' she muttered sarcastically. Mary felt rage build up inside her. _'Damned hospital!' _Her fingers clenched into the cotton. She could feel her fingernails on her skin. She pressed harder and began to scratch hard across her cheeks. She scratched again and again, till she felt her skin break and blood began to well up from the scratches in her face. A painful whimper escaped her mouth, tears shot into her eyes. Her face had turned into a bloody mess.

She dropped the towel as if it was a snake and starred wide eyed at her face. Her nails had left bloody wounds all over it. Memories of a blood-covered young face danced through her mind. '_Mickey!'_

Her blood ran in small rivulets down her face and finally dropped from her chin into the sink, where it created a red spattered pattern out of thousands of small droplets.

Mary gasped sharply. Pain had engulfed her completely and her hands fell limply down to her sides, smearing blood on her white gown. Her green eyes travelled unfocused from left to right till they finally remained on her image in the mirror.

Mary's vision became blurry. She tried hard to focus on her appearance, but noticed all the blood, her blood, and couldn't take it any longer. A tremor shook her body, when she realized, what she just had done. Her body began to sway. Her legs seemed to be unable to keep her standing up straight. At last they gave way and the young woman collapsed to the floor. On her way down she hit her head on the edge of the bath tub, causing a nasty gash and a stabbing pain, that pushed her straight into unconsciousness.

::::::::::

Will Fox was occupied with making Mary's bed, when he heard a hollow thump from inside the bathroom. Startled by the sound he let the pillow drop to the bed and started in a run towards the bathroom.

"Mary!", he called for his patient just as he pushed the door open. The view took his breath away. Mary lay motionless with a blood-covered face on the ground. Three large steps brought him to the non-sentient woman. Will dropped to his knees and searched for a pulse. When he felt the steady thump at her throat, he let out a sigh of relief.

His blue eyes searched the room for something to stop the bleeding. He grabbed the towel, lying beneath Mary and pressed it against the deep gash on her forehead. Fearfully he looked into Mary's blood-stained face. With shaking hands he slapped Mary's cheeks. "Mary, please wake up, open your eyes."

But Mary's eyes remained shut. Will decided to leave her for a second to get some help. He dashed back into the bedroom and pushed the emergency bottom. Soon the small bathroom bustled with people, who finally carried Mary to the medical ward.

:::::::::

Alan Eppes checked his clock for the fifth time in ten minutes. Nervously he rubbed his forehead, wondering where his sons were. They were supposed to be at the airport in less than three hours and he had planned a family lunch before they leave. Alan shook his head; they were running out of time.

Don and Charlie had left together shortly after breakfast, to get Don's baggage ready. That had been hours ago. Alan paced the kitchen. His eyes fell upon his own suitcase standing ready in the doorway. A small smile played around the corner of his mouth, with the help of god, Don and he would be in Hawaii in a few hours.

_'Don and he.'_ His heart skipped a beat. His younger son Charlie wouldn't be joining them and suddenly Alan felt a stab of pain in his soul.

When Charlie had offered to help Don with his baggage Don had accepted the help brightly. Alan was sure that it wasn't because of Charlie's packing skills, which were, in friendly words, non-existent, but it would be the last chance for them to spend some time together for two weeks.

His fatherly intuition had told him right away, that Don, though he was impressed by Charlie's great gift, was disappointed that Charlie wouldn't come with them. In the last few years and especially in the last months, when Charlie had become the victim of an insane stalker, Don had grown into his role of the brother protector and actually had learned to love it.

Alan couldn't stop a fat grin when he heard the front door flew open and the chatting voices of his son filled the room.

He sighed, relieved; his sons had made it.

He walked into the living-room. "Hey, you're late. I was thinking about calling Colby to get a search party." He announced in a stern voice, but he couldn't keep it up, when he saw his sons collapsed on the couch.

Charlie raised his head and looked at his father with weary eyes. "Sorry dad, but big boss over here," he pushed his index-finger into Don's shoulder, which got him a slap on his hand, "had an endless list of things he still had to do before the flight."

"Like what?" Alan asked curiously.

"Shopping," Charlie's voice mirrored the fun he'd had, remembering the last hours.

Charlie rose to his feet and clapped his hands. "Lunch ready? I'm hungry," he asked over his shoulder on his way to the kitchen.

"Almost Charlie." Alan kept his eyes focused on Don, who still sat motionless and silent on the couch.

"You're alright?"

Don nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered half heartedly.

And though Alan wasn't convinced he let it slip. Knowing Don, he knew, that Don would come to him, when he needed to talk.

"Come on, Donnie, lunch is fixed."

Don wrinkled his nose. The smell of tomatoes, beef and pasta assaulted him and made him smile. "Lasagna?"

"Yeah, it's the best 'Good-bye' lunch I could think of."

Alan turned towards the kitchen and so he missed the reaction his statement had had on his older son. Immediately, Don's smile was washed away and was replaced with fear and sorrow.

'Fool,' Don called himself, when he got up to join his family for lunch.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again for sticking with me and the great reviews!**

**Thanks to starfishyeti**

**The stalker part 2**

**by elessar73**

***** 6. chapter : The power of love *****

Mary stirred. Reluctantly she opened her eyes to small slits and stared at a white ceiling. Her head was hurting like hell and her vision was blurry.

She squeezed her eyes shut again and forced herself to take a few deep breaths in and out, hoping to eliminate the pain.

After a while she felt steady enough to give it another try. Very slowly she opened her eyes again, expecting the pain to slam down on her like a sledgehammer, but nothing happened. Though the pain was still there, it had turned into a dull throb, she could easily ignore.

"Hey Mary, you're awake. You had me worried." Oliver's friendly, familiar voice greeted her. Her face lighted up, Oliver, her Oliver was here by her side. She turned her head towards the man and was rewarded with a big, fat 'Oliver Blum'-grin.

"Oliver," she whispered in a small voice and reached out her hand. As expected Oliver grabbed it and held it tight.

Mary couldn't stop the small, evil grin playing around her mouth. _'Fool.'_

"What happened?" she asked innocently. She remembered that Will had woken her up and told her about her therapy, but the rest was a dark mist. Memories of blood and pain flashed through her mind, but it didn't make much sense. She looked at Oliver with wide eyes, awaiting the truth.

Oliver saw the woman shift in her bed, trying to sit up. "Easy, you're hurt, you have to take it slow." Oliver was full of concern for the woman he loved so much. He let go of her hand and helped her into a sitting position. Mary did her best to feet Oliver's concern. She occasionally sighed and even managed to let some tears fall. Silently she congratulated herself, when she caught a glimpse of Oliver's fearful eyes.

"Thanks," Mary rewarded Oliver with a weary smile. Oliver's heart skipped a beat. The smile, even though it was just faint, was incredible, and even better, it was just for him.

With a feather light touch of his hand Oliver caressed her blond hair and pushed a contrary strand out of her eyes.

"So, what happened?" Her mind was reeling. Deep inside she knew, that the day had gone horribly wrong. She had lost control over the situation, had let herself go and now, she had to find a way out. But she had to know exactly what had happened and she needed Oliver's help.

The young orderly observed her closely, noticing her unsteady eyes and her grim face. Her face, Oliver swallowed hard, her once so beautiful face was a bloody mess. Cuts and scrapes ran over it making her look like a zombie. Just her eyes, her green, catlike eyes were the same, still sparkling full of power and life. And that was all that mattered to him. From the first time they had met, he'd lost himself in her eyes - and he still was.

Oliver felt a soft tap on his hand and was startled out of his memories. "What?" For a second the man didn't know where he was, but the inquiring look from the green eyes brought him back to reality.

"Well," Oliver searched for the right words, "actually I don't really know. Will was there. He told us, that everything was as usual. He woke you up and told you to get ready for your therapy session."

"Hypnosis," Mary interrupted him, when her memory come back.

"Yeah, Hypnosis. He said you went into the bathroom and after a few minutes he heard a thump. He found you unconscious, with blood all over your face on the ground. You scratched your skin till you bled and when you collapsed you hit your head on the bath tub."

Mary's face had turned white as a sheet. _'My face, how could I forget?'_

Her hands went up and touched the sore skin. A whimper escaped her, when her fingers found her wounds. Bitter tears shot into her eyes and ran over her face. It was the first time for years that she'd cried for herself and for what she had done to herself.

"What have I done?" She shook her face from left to right.

"Mary, easy, please," Oliver tried to soothe her. "It's not that bad. The wounds will heal and you'll be as beautiful as always."

"Really?" she asked not a bit convinced, but from the bottom of her heart she wanted to believe him. However, life had taught her not to trust anybody, but herself. She had to see her face.

"Give me a mirror!" she nearly screamed at Oliver amid her tears.

"No." Oliver had turned as white as Mary, his heart was racing.

"Why not?" Mary's suspicion grew. "It shouldn't be a problem, if it's not that worse." she hissed angrily.

"Just wait a few days, let the swellings and bruises disappear. Okay?"

Mary squeezed her eyes shut and hit her head against the wall. 'Maybe Oliver was right.' she told herself.

"I'll help you through this." Gently he laid a hand on her shoulder and dragged Mary out of her thoughts. "Don't worry, I'll be by your side no matter what." Oliver smiled genuinely. He let his fantasy blossom. He imagined their life together. When Mary was released, Oliver believed in that without doubt, they would move in together and become a family. In his childish dreams everything was perfect.

Little did he know about what Mary had in store for him.

Mary's tears slowly ebbed away. And when they were gone, her brain started to work again. Inwardly she cursed herself for being such a candyass. _'Mary Clark __never gives__ in, no matter what!'_

Out of the corner of her eye she peered at Oliver and could guess he was dreaming from his expression. She frowned, wondering what the man was thinking of. But knowing Oliver he must be dreaming of the two of them.

A sadistic smile showed up on her face. All her sadness disappeared when a plan sprang into her mind. And without thinking much longer, she brought it to life.

She let her hands wander across the sheet till they found Oliver's hands once again. Mary petted his palms gently.

As Mary had foreseen, Oliver turned his head and looked straight into her face. Hunter and prey locked eyes and without words the pact was sealed.

"Thank you," Mary formed with her lips and shyly looked away. "Oliver," she purred. "I need to go out again."

Oliver's body tensed at the words. That wasn't what he'd been expecting. But Mary had seen his reaction coming. She'd long since become a master at reading body language. It wasn't accidental, that she had picked Oliver out of the crew of orderlies. She was sure, that she could have ensnared every man in the hospital. But her first choice had been Oliver Blum.

The man was a dreamer, still full of enthusiasm, and still young enough to believe in the good of the people. He was a green fool, who had run headfirst into her trap and had no idea what was really going on around him. _'Kind __fool.'_

"Oliver please," she begged, "I need to get something."

"I can get it for you." The young orderly tried a compromise.

"That's nice Olli," the use of his pet name let his resistance melt away, "but I need to get it on my own. It's a surprise, just for you." Mary bowed her head in devotion. The hushed spoken words accompanied by a gentle touch of her hands, broke down the last walls of his defence.

Oliver inhaled deeply and shook his head in disbelief. "I can't deny you anything."

Mary turned her head away to hide her treacherous smile. _'You're __telling__ me.'_

_"_But not tonight, as long as you're stationed in the medical ward, we won't have a chance." Mary's optimism dropped. "But if you're a good girl, you maybe allowed to return to your room tomorrow. And then we'll see."

Mary's cheeks glowed with delight. The young man caressed Mary's sore skin slightly. He closed his eyes and let himself fall into the comfort of the touch. _'Mary and me, just amazing.'_

_"_Thanks." Mary pressed a kiss onto the palm of his hand. She felt the young man shiver with arousal - that was so easy.

Reluctantly the orderly let go of her. At anytime a nurse could rustle into the room. It was better that nobody knew about their special relationship. "You'll need to rest now. Prof. Sullivan will check up on you in the afternoon."

Mary pushed herself a little further up and kissed Oliver lightly on his lips. She tasted his salty sweat on her tongue and tried to savor it. It tasted somehow familiar and brought back memories of her life; the life she'd had before she'd ended in 'Sun Valley'. Mary smirked. _'You'll learn what it means to sweat, very soon'_

For now she rewarded him his a second kiss. Oliver had given her all the information she needed and he would help her to get out of here. She just had to figure out how to allay the professor.

She was sure, that she would find a way, she always did. She hadn't lost her power; she was still in charge.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to read and to review my story!**

**Thanks to my beta starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 7. chapter : Up and away *****

The three Eppes' men stepped outside the house and marched towards Don's SUV. Without any further explanation it was understood, that they would take Don's car to get to the airport-, Charlie's Toyota was just to small.

After all the baggage was stowed the three men took their seats. Don drove, while Charlie sat beside him and Alan took the backseat.

"Ready for take-off?" The agent asked smiling.

"Absolutely," came the simultaneous answer from his family.

Despite the usual horrible traffic on the streets of L.A. they made good time and arrived at LAX thirty minutes before check-in started.

Don found a free spot at a nearby short-term parking lot. Charlie was driving his car back to the city. The thought of it gave him a chill, but by now Charlie was a good enough driver to handle the big car, he hoped despairingly. He wasn't that happy about the circumstances, but he hadn't had the heart to deny Charlie this wish. Charlie's brown eyes had began to sparkle like it was Christmas eve and he was allowed to open one present before he had to go to sleep. Nobody had had the heart to deny the little boy his wish and the puppy-dog look still performed its magic. Don shook his head in disbelief. _'Little brothers:__the curse of the older sibling'__ life.'_

They got out of the car and fetched their baggage. In file, because of the traffic, they made it to the main building of the airport. Don was the first to reach the entrance. The glass doors slid open in front of him and he stepped into the waiting-hall. Out of habit, he let his view travel across the crowd of people waiting for their flights. It was just then that he realized the forms of three familiar figures. Surprised he stopped in his tracks to take a better look. Maybe it was just his imagination. Charlie, who was walking closely behind his brother didn't notice the abrupt halt and slammed into Don's back.

"Damn," Don hissed through clenched teeth, turning around to find himself face to face with his sheepishly grinning brother. "You ever heard about paying attention?"

"Sorry," Charlie shrugged his shoulders. "But why have you stopped? The check-in is over there." The young mathematician pointed with his index finger towards the US Airways counter.

Don didn't had the time to answer when his teammates appeared in front of him.

"Finally you're here. We were thinking about sending out a search-party," Colby explained in his usual laidback way.

"Hey Colby," Charlie took the reply from Don's lips. "Want to say good bye big boss?" Charlie looked sheepishly at his brother.

"Don't push your luck little one." Alan added in his best parental tone, but failed miserably when he couldn't hold back his laughter.

Don frowned at his reaction, but Megan prevented him from commenting upon it with her greeting.

"Hey everybody." Megan clapped Charlie's shoulder and the young mathematician grinned back in a friendly way. Since Charlie had stopped his therapy sessions with a professional therapist he had taken his chances with Megan. The female agent was a qualified psychologist and, what was more important, knew Charlie well. During the time Charlie had worked closely with the FBI and had helped solved uncountable cases she had learned a lot about the young genius. The young man had earned the respect and love of all the team members. He had become a precious part of the team - a little brother to everyone.

The first time Charlie had opened up to her she had found him on the CalSci-Campus sitting at a fountain. It had seemed that the young man was just looking into the water, but Megan was sure, that some unsolvable math-problems were dancing through his mind. She had stepped closer and had just sat down beside him without saying a word.

Finally, it was the genius who had broken the silence, "What brings you here?"

"Do I need a reason to visit?" She had answered as if it was the most normal thing for her to spend time with Charlie.

Charlie had turned towards her, a frown on his forehead. "I guess not," he'd stated, "but I guess Don sent you."

"Oh la la, you can't fool a genius." Megan had brushed her hand through Charlie's dark curls, understanding once again, why women fell for them. "He's just worried."

Charlie dark eyes had grown wide. "He doesn't need to. I'm fine."

"Sure you are. But you know Don. He can't give up." Megan had smiled genuinely at Charlie

Charlie had nodded his head in understanding. "I know".

They had sat wordless for a little while. Finally, Charlie had taken in a deep breath and had begun to talk about Amita. In the beginning his words had just been whispers and Megan had had to strain her ears to understand them, but with every added word the voice had become louder.

Megan had listened very carefully. She had always known that Charlie loved Amita more than anything else, and that she had broken his heart, when she had left. But to hear these sad words out of Charlie's mouth, who usually just recited numbers were hard for her. She wasn't able to stop the tears springing into her eyes. She had swallowed hard looking into Charlie's dark, wet eyes.

Without a word she had dragged him into her arms and had hugged him tight. "Everything will be okay. Believe me." Since that day Megan had began to visit Charlie once or twice in a week at CalSci, depending on the work she had to do. Sometimes they had eaten together or had just sat in the grounds. And whenever Charlie had felt the need he was able to talk to her. The woman had never asked anything, she was just near and had listened when required. And that was, what Charlie had needed. The genius needed the chance to heal and recover at his own speed and Megan gave him the freedom to do so without putting any pressure upon him.

Don noticed the small gesture out of the corner of his eyes and a little smile danced around his mouth. Though Megan never told him directly that she was sort of counseling Charlie, he was agent enough to figure it out by himself.

A little of the pressure that had rested upon his shoulders slipped away. He knew that the team would take care of Charlie while he and Alan were away. All three of them loved his little genius brother in an almost familial way. This knowledge gave him at least a little peace, but he was unable to fool himself completely. Deep inside he knew that something dangerous was going on. His nightmares had become an everyday occurrence, just like his control calls to 'Sun Valley'.

"You alright Don?" His father's voice close to his ear dragged him away from his thoughts. "We have to go."

"Alright." Don nodded his okay. His dark eyes searched for Charlie and he found him standing surrounded by three FBI-agents. _'What more can I ask for?'_

_"_Okay fellows, I guess it's time to say goodbye." Theatrically, Don wiped an invisible tear away. "Hawaii is waiting." Though he tried to sound relaxed Colby noticed the small strain in his boss' voice. He looked him in the eyes, finding a touch of underlying fear in the dark pools.

_'Overprotecting brother can't let go,' _Colby smirked.

The good-byes were brief and big hearted. Don held his brother in a tight embrace."Take care buddy. And thanks again."

Charlie had tried to keep a professional manner, but he couldn't fight the tears that sprung to his eyes at his brother's kind words. He wiped them away with the back of his hand. "Have fun, and there's nothing to thank for." Charlie clapped Don's back slightly.

Reluctantly, Don let go of his brother and while he turned towards his friends Alan took the vacated place in front of Charlie. He laid his hands on Charlie's shoulders. "Goodbye little one. Take care, eat enough, sleep regularly..."

"Dad," Charlie stopped the fatherly advices. "I'll be fine."

Alan nodded, his lips pressed tightly together. His son was an adult, he knew that, but sometimes he couldn't comprehend the fact. By all accounts Charlie was a genius, but now and then he failed in the simple tasks of life. Alan pulled him into his arms.

"Don't worry, dad, everything'll be okay."

Charlie felt his father nodding against his shoulder. Affectionately, he pushed him away. "You have to go or you'll miss your flight."

The young professor stepped aside, while his father said his good bye to the agents.

Don was still engrossed in a conversation with Colby, when a cell started to ring.

Colby shrugged his shoulders apologetically and reached for his phone.

"Granger," the agent spat out, unwillingly taking the call. But that changed within a second. Colby's attention was completely drawn into the conversation. "Yeah, got it, will be there in twenty minutes." He closed his cell. As his ice-blue eyes made contact with his co-workers they could see the tension expand around him.

"We have a homicide," he delivered the bad news in a clipped voice. "We have to go."

"Oh man," David said, frustrated. "Not even time to say a proper good-bye."

"That's the way it is." Colby explained.

Megan nodded silently.

"Hey," Don couldn't help himself. "What's going on with Granger?"

Charlie took a deep breath, seeing his brother's body tensed up and falling into FBI-mode. IIt really was the unluckiest moment for such a call.

Don clenched his hand into fists, standing on the edge of skipping his holiday plans.

"Whoa," Colby soothed his boss. "You're off, remember. There's nothing to worry about. The three of us," Colby pointed at his teammates, "will handle everything."

Alan was hopping from foot to foot observing the scene nervously. It was past time for checking in, but Don stood frozen to stone.

"Donnie," Alan tried to reach his son. It seemed like an eternity till Don reacted. He shook his head to clear his mind. He sighed deeply, bent down and then arched up his back. "Let's go." Don had made his decision.

Everyone sighed in relief. _'That was close.'_

The agents turned to leave.

"You're okay on your own, Charlie?" Megan felt the need to make sure that Charlie would be alright.

"Yeah, of course. I'm heading back to CalSci." An evil grin appeared on his face while he reached for Don's car keys in his pocket. "Driving Don's SUV will be fun."

"Buddy," Don turned concerned eyes on his brother. "Just a small scratch and you're dead," he teased him affectionately.

Charlie's smile deepened. "I know."

"Okay, we're out," Colby made his point.

"Hey Colby," Don held his agent back once more. "You've got it covered, right?" Don had to assure himself. "Everything."

Colby lifted his thumb, knowing exactly what Don was referring about. He would make sure that Charlie would live through the days, Don and Alan were away.

The little gesture was all Don needed for confirmation, he trusted his team, he trusted his brother:everything would be just fine - somehow.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews. You are all awesome!**

**A hugh thank you to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 8. chapter : Copycat *****

Colby, David and Megan arrived at the crime-scene. The whole place was already swarming with police officers and CSI. Colby got out of the SUV and took a first observing glance around. Somehow, the place looked familiar to him and even though he couldn't put a finger on it, the place brought back an evil feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh my god," Megan stated taking position right beside him. "This can't be," she whispered more to herself, pictures of crime-scenes buried in the deepest part of her soul, flashing through her mind.

"Are you alright?" David asked lying a soothing arm around her shoulder.

"Just look at that," Megan declared.

The black agent did as said and inwardly shuddered. They were standing in front of an old, abandoned warehouse sited in an industrial area in east L.A.

The yellow crime-scene tape fluttered in the soft breeze and even though it was a sunny, warm day the sound of it made the three agents shiver. It resembled the places Mary Clark had choosen for her insane deeds too closely for them to be comfortable. But that must be a coincidence, cruel by any account, but nothing more. They had arrested Mary Clark months ago and ever since she'd been behind bars, in a high security ward in the 'Sun Valley' psychiatric facility.

Colby shifted uncomfortably on his feet, fighting for composure. He banished the sinister memories of the woman, who had put Charlie Eppes' life in jeopardy several times.

"Let's go," he addressed his friends, but his voice wasn't as steady as usual. Megan noticed the unsteady undertone at once and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. It surprised her to find a deep frown on his forehead giving him a stern appearance.

A movement to her left caught her attention. She noticed David searching for his sunglasses. The agent squeezed his eyes against the bright light coming from a relentless sun. He leaned against the hook of the car avoiding the pull to look directly at the warehouse. _'He must be__ fighting the same demons.'_

"Okay," Colby who'd been nominated as team-leader was ready to give his instructions. "David go check out the surroundings and see what L.A.P.D.'s found out already."

David nodded shortly and walked away.

"Megan, you come with me." Together they forced their way to the entrance. Flashing their badges at the police officer positioned at the entrance they stepped in.

The feeling of a déjà vu became more and more overwhelming. Megan closed her eyes fighting down the bile that was threatening to rise up her throat.

_'That's impossible.'_

The interior was completely empty. Dim light found its way through dust covered windows, sending a surreal glimpse of light to the room. Clouds of dust whirled through the stale air.

Colby wrinkled his nose and made a face when he noticed the underlying coppery smell of blood. The young agent looked around. Several CSI officers were processing the scene, searching for evidence. The blue eyes finally found the corpse lying in a puddle of blood in the left corner of the room. Colby stumbled backward. Reacting fast, Megan reached out her hand to steady her friend. "Colby?" She asked concerned. "You okay?" Her voice was low, the words were meant only for him.

Colby didn't react; his eyes were still resting on the corpse. Megan followed his glance and immediately knew what was off.

Megan swallowed hard, the familiar appearance of the corpse took her breath away: a mop of dark curly hair framed a thin, pale face covered with cuts and bloody smears. The limbs were spread in impossible angles from the body, which seemed to be boneless, bathing in a sea of its own blood.

"This can't be true," Colby whispered stepping closer to the corpse. The movement forced Megan's hand to slip from his arm.

"Go find out if Clark is where she belonged," Colby demanded, his voice clipped.

Megan stared at him with wide eyes. "You really believe..."

"Just check it, okay," Colby spat out angrily, cutting her short.

Megan took in a deep breath surprised by Colby's harsh tone of voice. Despite her anger she reached for her cell to get the information Colby had asked for.

"Dr. Greenburg," Colby greeted the coroner kneeling beside the victim.

"Agent," the doctor replied without looking up. "Where's Eppes?"

"Vacation."

The coroner raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yep," Colby grinned sheepishly.

But the grin faded when he took a closer look at the victim. The young man's face was a bloody mess and resembled exactly the torture wounds Mary Clark had inflicted on her victims.

A shudder ran down Colby's spine. _'It must be her.'_

Dr. Greenburg cleared his throat. "I'm done for now." The man rose to his feet.

"And?"

"Well, at the first look I'm tempted to say that he was beaten to death and finally bled out."

Colby flinched at the words. He would never get used to a coroner's emotionless statements.

"He has multiple bruises and swellings, actually his whole body is one big bruise. He's got several fractured limbs and cuts, mostly on his face, but also on his arms." Dr. Greenburg took a breath glancing once again at the corpse. "The injuries on his face are post mortem. I'll have more after the examination."

Colby nodded his agreement. "Thanks, Doc."

"One more thing," the doctor added. "The whole MO exactly the same as Mary Clark's MO."

The words hit the agent like a punch in the stomach. "She's locked up," he stated, not absolutely convinced.

"I know," the coroner frowned. "But it's her method."

Colby watched stunned, as the man left. "A copycat?" He asked himself. Finding no answer he sighed deeply and turned towards a CSI agent.

"Hey Jason," he greeted the agent he'd known since his first case with the FBI. They had both been the youngsters in the team, over enthusiastic and doing more wrong than right. Colby smiled at the memory. "You've got something for me?"

The tall man turned around, a faint smile on his face. "Colby." Jason raised his hands in sarcastic praise. "The big boss comes down to us."

"Funny, Jason." Colby couldn't stop his own smile.

The dark haired CSI agent clapped him amiably on the shoulder. "Though it's true, isn't it? You're the boss for now."

"Somehow, but just temporally, until Don's back."

"I see." Jason's glance flew through the room. "Bad case to start with."

"Yeah. So, what you got?"

"Actually, not much. No I.D., no wallet, nothing. We took his fingerprints and DNA-samples. Maybe we'll get lucky with those." The man shrugged dejectedly. "We found part of a thumb print on those iron bars." Jason pointed towards them. "But the question is, are they connected, and if yes...?" Jason searched for the right words. "I don't have to tell you, you know the procedure."

"Yeah I know," Colby declared. "That's really not much." Colby shook his head and fell silent.

"Hey guys." Megan's appearance banished the uncomfortable silence, which had settled between them. "Clark is safe and sound in 'Sun Valley'. It couldn't be her." Megan slapped reassuringly on Colby's back.

"Good." Relief swept through Colby's body. "But who are we facing then? According to the coroner the perp has copied Mary Clark perfectly."

Jason Brooks squeezed his eyes, remembering the recent case. "You referring to the maniac threatening Eppes' brother? But if she's behind bars…"

"Exactly," Megan confirmed the man's thoughts. "We may be dealing with a second Mary Clark."

"The question is, if this person's initial goal is the same, too," Colby threw in.

Megan froze by Colby's words, her mouth dropped open. "You think Charlie's in danger." The female agent peered at Colby with wide eyes. "Colby!"

But Colby turned around and left the scene without a word.

Megan caught a last glimpse of his back when he stepped out of the front door, his cell phone pressed tight against his ear.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks again for sticking with me and the great feedback. I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to review.**

**Thanks again to starfishyeti.**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 9. chapter : Possibilities *****

Charlie was on his way back into the city. The traffic rolled undisturbed in a steady flow along the highway, giving him time to let his thoughts drift. The young man inhaled deeply and let the sensation of different smells roll over him. There was the faint odor of Don's favorite aftershave tangled up with the remains of fast food and beer. Charlie grinned; this was his brother, the great FBI-man living on burgers and beer. Charlie wondered what their dad would have to say about that? Well, at least Don was eating something. Charlie's grin deepened. '_Two weeks on my own.' _The young man rubbed his forehead and sighed unconsciously. He had loaded himself with so much work that he wouldn't have enough time to enjoy his freedom. Being well aware of his flaws, despite what his family believed, he was sure that he would end up holed up in his office or garage with too little sleep and food. In the back of his mind he could already hear his family complaining. _'You can't leave him alone, a __genius who __forgets__ everything but his numbers.'_

The exit to Pasadena came in sight. Charlie had decided to leave the SUV at the Craftman' and bike back to CalSci. Though he enjoyed driving Don's car, he felt a little unsure even if he had the right to use it all day long. It was an FBI vehicle after all and even when he conceded to himself that he was a part of the FBI, it just didn't sit well.

Charlie parked the SUV in the drive, transferred to his bike standing beside the house and without further thought was on is way to the university. A soft breeze fluttered around him and disheveled his curly hair. Charlie felt like a teenager again; he'd always liked riding a bike. The feeling of the handlebars in his hands shaking dangerously when riding at high speed, down a hill, had thrilled him and it still did. When everything was getting too much for him to bear, when his thoughts refused to take the right turns, the best he could do to clear them was to race through the streets of L.A.

Before, these excursions had often ended with him lying in the dirt with a bloody knee or elbow. His mother, Margaret, had always made a fuss about it and had even threatened to take the bike away. But thanks to Alan, who was glad that his genius son had taken interest in something other than numbers, the bike had remained in his possession. Young Charlie had had to promise that he would be more careful in the future and he was. The last time he had fallen from his bike was years ago. Charlie laughed out at the memory.

It was in Princeton. He was the youngster, the genius kid from L.A. with an unbelievable understanding for numbers. His peers had observed him jealously and even dissed him. But Charlie hadn't cared. He had been so engrossed by the possibilities Princeton offered him and the focus of the professors that he hadn't bothered about making friends. Prof. Fleinhardt had realized the potential Charlie had right away and had taken him under his wing. Looking back it was the beginning of a wonderful, meaningful friendship. On that special day Charlie had had a private lesson with Fleinhardt. It was already getting dark, when the professor had ended his lecture, a big grin on his face.

"Well Charles, that's it for today."

Charlie had looked up surprised. "Oh, but there are still so many questions."

The older man had nodded. "Oh lord, I think the questions will be still there tomorrow, kid. Your mother is waiting."

The mention of his mother had set him in motion. "Yeah right." Charlie'd packed his stuff in his backpack and was out the door without a word.

Larry had shaken his head. 'Same as me.' A smile had danced around the corners of his mouth.

Charlie had dashed through the science building. He'd grabbed his bike standing nearby. He'd opened the lock and had made his way across campus. He was living, together with his mother, in a small apartment on campus about fifteen minutes away. It was possible to shorten the way by taking a slippery path down a short, but nevertheless dangerous hilly part of forest-covered area. Charlie had been running out of time and so he had chosen to take this path. He had made it halfway down and could already see the ending of the forest when his front wheel had began to shake violently. "No!" The young man had screamed, pulling hard on the brakes, but it hadn't worked. Charlie had lost controll and had crash hard on the ground. He had found himself lying in the mud, his bike right above him. He had breathed in deeply, happy to still be alive. Carefully he had managed to rise into a sitting position when a flash of pain had rolled down his arm. He had closed his eyes. "Damn." he had muttered already hearing his mother's voice. Slowly, without using his arm, he had come up and had checked his appearance. He had looked like hell. His clothes had been covered with dirt and a nastily bleeding scratch had run across his arm. His bike was useless, the front wheel was twisted same as the handlebars. Swearing, Charlie had made his way home on foot. Later, it had turned out, that someone had manipulated his bike, but they had never discovered who had done it.

Charlie smirked as the memories faded; the laughter was gone. 'Though it wasn't the first time someone tried to hurt me by loosening screws on my vehicle,' he thought sarcastically. He shook his head vigorously to banish the pictures. Just then CalSci came in sight and every thought about Mary Clark die. After securing his bike he got to his office. Opening the door his eyes immediately caught sight of a stack of notes positioned in the middle of his desk. 'Larry,' he sighed. Grinning, he stepped closer, fell down on his seat and picked up the first sheet of paper.

Within seconds we was lost in the world of formulas and numbers. His head was popped up in his left hand, distrayed curls hung loosely into his eyes, but he didn't bother to push them away. His dark eyes were focused on the paper he was reading. From time to time he squeezed his eyes in surprise fascinated by Larry's newest ideas. _'Amazing!'_

The sudden sound of his cell phone coming from his backpack startled him out of his musings. "Damn," he hissed. Without turning his eyes from the paper he grabbed the backpack dangling over the back of his chair. His hand searched for his cell. Finally he got a hold of it. He dragged it out and opened the device.

"Eppes," he introduced himself absentmindedly, still absorbed in the numbers.

"Charlie," Colby's calm voice answered him, but the sound couldn't fool him. Charlie sensed at once that something was going on. His body tensed imagining what could have happened. 'Dad, Donnie.' He thought bewilderedly, but had no time to transform his thoughts into words when Colby asked, "You okay Charlie?"

The young professor frowned. "Me? Last time I've checked I was," he joked unsure what to think about that question.

"That's good." Colby sounded much more relaxed now and Charlie felt a wave of relief sweep through him, when he realized the change.

_'Don and Alan are okay.' _But parts of a strange feeling remained. "What are you asking for. We saw each other just a few hours ago."

Colby felt foolish, he almost acted like Don when it came to Charlie. But he was in charge. 'Overprotecting agent,' he called himself. 'And fool at the same time.' He smirked, wondering what to tell Charlie. "Everything's fine." Colby decided to go with a lie, but it didn't work.

On the other end of the line the agent heard a harsh intake of air, knowing that he hadn't fooled the genius.

"You aren't calling without a reason Colby, so please don't lie to me. It wouldn't work either."

'Busted.' Colby smiled to himself wearily, drawing small circles with his fingertips across his forehead. He shrugged. "Alright, we have a homicide."

"So, you need my help," Charlie interrupted excitedly.

"No, not really." Colby stopped his enthusiasm. "The victim was badly tortured; the kind of torture Clark used on her victims." Colby closed his eyes; putting their worse fears into words had cost him a lot. It took a while for him to realize the odd silence. "Charlie, you still with me?" Concern obvious in his voice, a heavy stone had settled in his stomach. "Charlie, what's wrong?"

"The rose," Charlie's voice was just a whisper, but forced jolts of ice to run down Colby's spine.

"Charlie, what are you talking about?" All Colby heard was the harsh intake of sharp breaths. "Charlie, I'm on my way, just relax. Everything'll be fine." Colby wondered whom he was trying to soothe. He glanced around for David, when Charlie snapped out of his bubble.

"I'm fine," he whispered in a hoarse, but steady voice. "No need to run."

Colby visibly relaxed, the last thing he had needed was for Charlie to have a panic attack. "Anyway, there's no reason to be worried. We checked it out, Clark is still locked up."

Charlie nodded his understanding then realizing that Colby couldn't see him said, "Okay."

"Just one thing Charlie you mentioned 'the rose'. What's that about?" Colby had regained his composure and was back in FBI mode.

"Well," the young mathematician cleared his throat," a couple of days ago I found a rose sticking under my windshield wiper." Charlie closed his eyes when memories of his office filled up with roses and the bitter taste of death that had come along with them, flooded his mind.

"Don know about it?" Colby was pretty sure, that he didn't. Don wouldn't have left under such circumstances.

"No," came the faint answer.

Colby grinned sheepishly. "I can imagine that." He shook his head.

_'What should I do? I__'ve promised to keep Charlie safe __and I will, but right now there __is no perceptible__ immediate threat against him.'_

Weighing what he knew Colby made his decision."I don't believe that you're actually in danger, Charlie. But to be on the safe side I want you to stay at CalSci. I'll come as fast as possible to pick you up and then we'll see how to go on, okay?"

"That sounds reasonable."

"Was that a compliment? Wow, praise from a genius," Colby laughed out.

"Sort of, but I don't need a babysitter, I'm an adult."

"Spare your breath, Charlie. You don't stand a chance either."

"I see," Charlie joined him in the laughter.

The friends ended the call and Charlie returned to his work. But he couldn't concentrate on the numbers in front of him. His brain was preoccupied with the question whether it was possible that a second maniac with the same agenda had appeared on the scene or if the familiar one had found a way to threaten him again?

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**A hugh thank you to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 10 .chapter : Arrivals *****

David Sinclair had observed his partner for quite a while. Colby had seemed to be engrossed in a phoneconversation and David was eager to find out what was going on. Despite his usual manner Colby had appeared to be under a great amount of stress. 'Must be due to being the leader,' David had told himself. Somehow he was thankful that Colby was the man in charge. Not that the black agent would have run away if it had been him to take this position. But right now, he was happy with how it was.

David waited till Colby had ended the call. He approached him curiously. "Hey Colby, what's going on?" He called from a distance.

Surprised Colby turned around, his ice blue eyes fixed on David's face. "David, you got something?" He asked back ignoring the initial question.

David sighed,_'That's typical boss behaviour__.'_

"Not much," the agent surrendered to his fate. "The front door was locked and secured, but two windows at the back were broken. So, whoever did that must have climbed in through the window or had a key."

Colby frowned. "I'm tending to the first idea. But why would someone follow blindly in through a broken window?"

"It's not the first time after all. Maybe victim and predator knew each other or..."

"Too many 'ifs' and 'maybes," Colby interrupted David with a wave of his hand. "First of all we have to find out, who's the owner and who's in possession of a key and then we'll check your theory. I wonder how she manages to manipulate men the way she does," Colby mused.

"She?" David asked, wondering what he had missed. "The killer is female? We already know that?"

Colby startled out of his thoughts and looked bewilderedly at his friend. A faint flush covered his cheeks. "Well," he stammered embarrassed. "No we don't. It's just the whole scene. Everything reminds me of Clark. It's as if her evil spirit had found a way of threatening L.A. again." Nervously he rubbed his forehead.

"So it's not just the building?"

"No," Colby declared in a low voice. "The choice of victim and the torture and killing methods. It all fits perfectly."

David took in a deep breath. "But it's been confirmed that Clark is still locked up."

"Yeah, Megan checked it. But, I don't know, something just doesn't sit well."

"I have to add that there are no witnesses to be found."

"I really don't wonder." Colby sighed. "However man, we have to get rolling. I want Megan and you to process the crime-scene. Let CSI turn every damn stone in the area. There must be some sort of evidence. Forensic found a smeared fingerprint, see if it will be of any help." Colby stopped to take a deep breath. "Check the missing person files, maybe we'll get a match. We need results and we need them quick." Colby clapped his friend reassuringly on his shoulder. "Let's go, man."

David grinned sheepishly. "I like it, when you're in big boss-mode. By the way, what are you going to do, boss?"

Colby couldn't stop a grin forming around his mouth. "Well, the big boss is going to talk to Clark. Whoever did this had inside knowledge of her deeds. We need to know if she's talked to someone about the details."

"And you really think, she would admit to it, even if she had done?"

"No idea, but that's the only real lead I can think of."

David shrugged his shoulders. "It won't do any harm I suppose. "He nodded. "Okay, see you then."

Colby raised his thumb and left the scene, knowing that his team was ready to do what was needed, just as he was.

::::::::::::

"Very well Mary. Your vitals are good and the cuts aren't infected, actually they're beginning to heal." Dr. Sullivan grinned contentedly. He flipped the patient chart open and scribbled the results down. "Guess we can take you back to your regular room."

Mary, who had remained silent and motionless, while the doctor had examined her thoroughly, felt a shudder run down her spine._'Yes, yes, yes!' _Her green eyes lightened up with excitement; finally she could get back in the game.

"I have adjusted your medicine. You'll feel tired and will sleep a lot in the next couple of days," the doctor explained. "I want you to relax and calm down completely. We have to find the trigger to your emotional freak outs. That may give us a clue how to threat you in the future."

Mary frowned at the words. She had wondered why she was so sleepy all day long. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, making every rational thought almost an impossible task. But now she had the answer. The woman sighed inwardly. As long as the medicine was being pumped into her veins through the needle attached to her hand she couldn't do much about it. But she hoped, that with the change of rooms a change back to oral medication would occur. This would give her the opportunity to influence the situation, especially with Oliver at her side. She smirked. _'It'll __be easy.'_

_:::::::::::_

The airplane came to a halt and the moment the sign announced it, Don released his seatbelt and rose to his feet. He wriggled his toes to get the blood moving through them again.

"You ready, Dad?" Don looked down at his old man, who still hadn't moved.

"Sure son, but why such a hurry. We're on vacation, remember?" Alan smiled at his older son. "Always impatient." With a sigh he followed his example and soon they were standing in a row in front of the baggage claim waiting for their bags to come through.

"See Donnie, no matter how quickly you get out of the plane, you always have to wait for your baggage."

"Funny Dad," Don rubbed his forehead with frustration. Drops of sweat ran down his face and his whole body. The air in the hall was sticky and hot and Don wondered what they would find once they stepped out. Thinking of L.A. as an oven, Hawaii must be the fires of hell. Just when he was ready to curse his brother for sending them here, he spotted his bag. He grabbed it at the right moment and dropped it to the ground by his feet.

_'Get lucky, __Charlie!'_

But with thinking about his brother Don felt memories crash down on him. All his nightmares, all the unanswered questions about Clark and he just left. Don shook his head and a frown appeared on his sweaty forehead.

Alan watched him out of the corner of his eye. Don's face appeared stern and though he wore a faint smile, it didn't reach his dark eyes.

"What are you brooding about, Donnie?"

"Huh?" Don stared at his father questioningly.

"I can see it in your eyes. What's wrong?"

Don ran his hand through his hair. "Nothing, it's just hot and I'm tired and…"

"I wonder how often I have to tell you not to lie to me," Alan interrupted him mid speech. "I'll find it out any way."

Don's eyes got a bemused glimmer. "Using you Super-Dad-Skills again?" He asked,smiling.

"Maybe."

"Okay dad, go ahead. Tell me what's on my mind. I give you three tries." Don crossed his arms in front of his chest and tapped his foot impatiently.

Alan shook his head, grinning brightly. He laid a hand on his son's arm. "I thought you knew me better. I just need one try."

Don raised an eyebrow. _'I'm I really that easy?'_

"It's not the heat. You worked in Mexico and never complained about the temperature and no way that you're tired." Alan locked eyes with Don. "It's Charlie, you want to call him. You just can't let your guard down."

Don grinned brightly. "Busted! You're right, but it's just that feeling..."

"Spare your words, son." Once again Alan cut him short. "Just go. I'll wait till I get my suitcase. We can meet outside the main entrance."

Alan had barely finished his sentence when Don turned on his heels, picked up his bag and stormed away.

Alan shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "Those boys," he muttered, but inside he felt like laughing. It was amazing that his two boys had become two caring and loving siblings.

After he waiting another ten minutes his suitcase finally arrived.

Swinging it lightly in his hands he went to the entrance. He was determined to enjoy his holiday - this was Hawaii and he was expecting ten wonderful days.

But it turned out that this was just wishful thinking.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**Finally, the next chapter-, sorry for the delay.**

**Thanks for sticking with the story and the great reviews!**

**A huge thanks you to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 11. chapter : Next steps *****

A bright sun shone down from a cloudless, blue sky. Against Don's assumption the air outside was hot, but not damp. A soft breeze fluttered through the air and gave his sweaty skin a cool touch, though it was sudorweld after all.

Don stood with his back leaning against a post off to the side of the main entrance. He had his cell phone clutched in his right hand, hitting it lightly against his thigh. The man's dark eyes were focused on a spot in the far distance. He seemed to be lost in thoughts.

Alan stepped outside the building catching a sight of his son at once. He wondered what interesting thing Don was seeing. Taking a closer look Alan noticed the lost expression on his older son's face he felt an uneasy feeling building up inside of him.

'Must be the weather,' he tried to fool himself, unwilling to admit, that he also was, at least, a little worried about his younger son.

The sun stood high up in the sky. Alan squeezed his eyes against the bright light and reached for his sunglasses. Living in L.A. he was used to high temperatures and bright sunlight, but the light here seemed to be much brighter than at home. It pricked his eyes and even the sunglasses couldn't stop that feeling completely.

Sweat started to pour out of every pore and soon Alan's shirt was soaking wet.

Alan approached his son and realized with a satisfied grin, that Don's shirt looked just the same. 'So it's not a matter of age,' he thought to himself.

"Hey Don, everything all right with Charlie?" he questioned his son.

Don rubbed fingers across his weary eyes, before he followed his father's example and put on his sunglasses. "The sun really burns," he stated absent-mindedly.

"We're in Hawaii. What did you expect?"

"Yeah,", Don nodded, a grin on his face.

"So what did Charlie say?"

"Nothing, he's in class."

Alan raised an eyebrow. "And that's what your clairvoyant-skills tell you?"

"No, not at all, dad," Don's grin deepened. "When he didn't answer his cell, I called his office and one of his TAs told me."

"So Charlie's okay. What are you worrying about?"

Don laid a supporting arm around his father's shoulder. "Your abilities are a little scary dad." Don smiled genuinely and for a moment his features relaxed. "I called Colby."

"Donnie, we're on holiday." Alan looked sternly at his son. "Your team can surely work for a few days without you."

"Yeah, dad, I know," Don explained feeling like a little boy again. "You know me. However, I just got hold of Megan. They have a homicide and Megan was a little reluctant to talk to me about it. I was just wondering what's going on."

Alan saw the sweat run down Don's face. His older son looked so lost. He felt a stab of concern in his chest; his older son needed to have everything under control, but right now, he had no influence on things happening at home. Alan decided, that he was the one in charge. "Well, I guess we'd better head to the hotel, before we melt away." He made his choice.

"Guess you're right, dad," Don sighed and left it up to his fate.

He threw his bag across his shoulder and with his father following right behind he approached the taxi stand.

::::::::::

Once Colby Granger had left the city-limits behind him and with it the usual L.A. traffic horror he settled in for a relaxed and quiet ride through the Napa Valley. He found a radio station playing hits from the 90's and whenever the agent recognized a song he had liked in his younger days, he dialed up the volume and sang along. A slight smile showed up on his face, being happy nobody was listening-, this would have been embarrassing. The first chords of 'Knocking on heaven's door' sounded through the car when Colby heard the familiar peep-sound of his cell, pronouncing low battery.

"Damn," Colby hissed through his teeth, dragging the device out of his pocket. The agent turned the cell off; it wasn't of any more use right now. The repeating beep was just nerve-wracking. He would charge it up back in the office. Whenever his team needed to reach him, they could do it by dispatcher.

After a further thirty-minute drive of humming and singing Colby reached the gates of 'Sun Valley'. He had to admit that, looking at the outside, the facility appeared to be a prison. High cement walls surrounded the area, spotlights fixed every few yards illuminated the environment and made it bright as day even in the darkest night. The tops of the walls were coveredbarbed wired. The iron gate itself was guarded by two armed security officers and Colby knew from earlier visits that several more officers were stationed all over the area. By all rights, 'Sun Valley' had high security, however Colby knew, that this first impression was soon dispelled, when passing through the gate. The hospital itself resembled a hotel more than anything else. The hospital was placed in the middle of a large park and gave its inmates the feeling of pure luxury.

Colby felt his gut crunch imagining the murderers and torturers being pampered, because they were deemed 'ill'. He wondered what their victims thought about that. Looking at Charlie, the young genius seemed to be happy, just knowing that Mary Clark was locked away, no matter where and how. Colby smirked. 'Let's see, if Clark is really that secured.'

The black SUV stopped in front of the gate and immediatly the guard in charge appeared at Colby's side.

"Sir,", the young man greeted him.

Colby nodded and handed his credentials through the open window. "Agent Colby Granger, I'm with the FBI.", he explained in a flat voice. "I have a meeting with Prof. Sullivan."

Taylor Brown, the young officer, scanned the badge with curious blue eyes, checking the picture with the man at his side.

"One moment, please." The man turned towards the guardhouse and disappeared inside.

Colby observed him, smiling inwardly, at the awe the young officer showed because of an FBI-badge. _'Kids_.'

Brown returned a few minutes later, smiling brightly. He handed the items back. "Drive through, Prof. Sullivan will meet you at the front entrance of the main building,", the young man explained eagerly. "Just straight ahead."

"Thanks." Colby took his badge and attached it to the pocket of his jacket. As soon as the gate was open he drove slowly through, diving into another world.

Colby saw the gate close again through his review mirror. 'Locked up.', he thought sarcastically. Feeling imprisoned still gave him the chills. He felt his stomach grumble and sweat poured down his face. Colby took a moment to compose himself. Breathing deeply in and out he assured himself, that he was able to leave the place again. 'Damn, like a tiro.' He hit the steering wheel and followed the road. His eyes flew from left to right. Every now and then, he saw groups of people, obviously patients with their orderlies strolling through the park or sitting on a bench. He shook his head, maybe Don's point of view wasn't that false at all; this had nothing to do with jail.

The agent banished those thoughts and concentrated back on the drive and his meeting with the doctor; there were more important things to muse about.

When the building came in to sight the agent realized a man in white scrubs was pacing the parking lot. 'Must be my date, impatient man.' The closer he got, the better Colby could make out the man's appearance. Sullivan was a man in his early fifties with his salt and pepper hair combed straight back. The ice-blue eyes caught Colby's attention. They were just like his. They glittered an indescribable blue and displayed his intelligence and understanding. 'The right combination for a doctor.' Colby mused. But unlike his own eyes, the doctor's eyes seemed to have a too soft touch.

The SUV came to a halt and Colby get out of the car.

"Agent Granger?" The doctor approached him.

"Nice to meet you Prof. Sullivan." Colby reached out his hand. The doctor took it and Colby remarked with satisfaction, that the man had a firm hand shake, maybe Sullivan wasn't that soft after all.

"Let's walk over to the park and have a seat," the doctor suggested in a tone, that left no room for discussion.

Colby smirked. _'The certainty of a leader.'_

The doctor showed the way and Colby followed close behind. The agent wondered if the Professor would let him speak to Clark personally. Somehow he had his doubts.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**A huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and review my story.**

**Thank you to the wonderful starfishyeti.**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

****** 12. chapter: Manipulation ******

Colby settled down on a bench, right beside Prof. Sullivan, under an old willow-tree, enjoying the shadow the branches offered.

The professor folded his hands in his lap and looked expectantly at the agent.

"So, how can I help you?" The doctor cleared his throat, feeling a little uneasy. It was not unusual for him to talk to the police, since some of his patients were reputed to be dangerous serial killers and maniacs. But the FBI was another matter, meaning no good.

"Well," Colby shifted on his seat, "it's about Mary Clark."

The doctor's blue eyes took on a bemused expression. "If I remember correctly one of you agents has called about her already."

Colby sensed the sarcasm in the doctor's voice and sighed in despair, feeling stupid. "She's still here, right?" He asked in a low voice.

A grin played around the corner of the doctor's mouth, every bit of bad feeling was gone. "She is, and I already confirmed that to one of your agents."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Colby waved a calming hand in the doctor's general direction. "But you have to understand, we're investigating a case of murder and the victim was tortured and killed the same way Clark did. Even the type of the victim and the location the corpse was dumped is identical. So it's really important that we check it out in person."

Prof. Sullivan had listen silently to the explanations of the young FBI-agent. "A strange kind of coincidence, I have to admit."

"Coincidence?" Colby could barely keep his temper. "This is serious and not one of your mind games. I need to talk to her," he pressed through clenched teeth.

"No way," the doctor interrupted brusquely, glaring at the agent. "She's under my watch and I will not allow you to disturb her healing progress."

Colby shook his head in disbelief. He fixed his ice-blue eyes on the doctor's face. "Lives are at stake. I need to know, if she's talked to someone about her deeds. The perp has a lot of insider knowledge, no one other than herself and people in law enforcement could know."

"However, I see your point, but you have to trust my professional opinion. Clark hadn't spoken very much about her deeds till now. And I'm sure that she's never shared her secrets with anybody before. Look, she's an isolated mind, not looking for confirmation. Everything she did was just for herself."

"But someone's copied her."

"Well,"the doctor became angry, "maybe you should look amongst your own, before you point a finger at someone."

Colby's mouth dropped open, he had never considered that possibility. "It's impossible," he mumbled more to himself.

"Sorry to dismiss you agent, but I have an appointment. Unless you get a warrant I will not let you talk to Clark." The doctor rose to his feet and shook the agent's hand. "I hope you'll find your assassin, but you won't find him here."

Colby nodded his thanks and lost in thought, watched the doctor leave the park. His head dropped to his chest, wondering about the odds Sullivan maybe right. 'I may ask Charlie,' he asked himself.

_'What would Don do?'_

_..._

Mary stood at the window of her regular room and stared the outside. She'd returned to it half an hour ago and ever since she'd been standing here. Her face was mirrored in the windowpane and she noticed the pattern of cuts running across her skin. Up till now she hadn't mustered the courage to look in a mirror. The reflection she got from the window was enough; her face looked like the mask of a zombie. Mary swallowed hard and shook her head despairingly.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a little squirrel, running up the trunk of a tree. A twisted smile crept across her face when her hand clapped against the windowpane as if reaching out for that little animal. 'Hey my little friend', she whispered almost soundlessly. 'How're you doing?' And as if the unspoken words had reached the ears of the squirrel, it stopped short in its tracks and looked in Mary's general direction, before it continued its way up. Mary's grin deepened imagining herself stroking through the soft fur. But all too soon the peaceful moment passed, when fractions of her past submerged from inside of her. She pressed her eyes shut, trying to banish the pictures of the curly haired boy and the bitter voice of her mother that tortured her, but it was in vain. There was just one way to escape. She clenched her hands into fists. 'I must get out.'

A movement in the yard caught Mary's attention. She squeezed her eyes, frowning by the view right in front of her. Seeing Prof. Sullivan in the accompany of a man she remembered as FBI agent Colby Granger, the bastard who had shot her and had stolen her chance of revenge on Charlie, made her stomach painfully clench. 'This isn't good.' Her forehead landed on the cool pane, while she tried to figure out what was being said. But she was just guessing. 'As long as the FBI doesn't come to me, everything is just fine,' the woman assured herself. 'No way the FBI could have figured out that I'm back out on the town.'

"You're just not clever enough," Mary hissed through the window, her green eyes sparkling with hate.

Suddenly the door flew open and all her musings were gone. Her body stiffened wondering who might step in without knocking. She knew only one person from the staff who would have the nerve to do so: 'Oliver.'

"Hey Mary," the familiar voice of the man she had expected flooded in soft waves around her covering her like a soft coat. Mary took a moment to let herself fall into the feeling of being loved. In times like this she even took into consideration dropping her plans of revenge. Maybe she should try to get really better, trust Prof. Sullivan and let him help her, to find peace and love in the arms of Oliver Blum. But the feeling never lasted long enough or wasn't strong enough to stand up against her evil side lurking inside of her.

"Hey Oli," she turned around smiling brightly at the young man. She had to ensnare him; she would need his help tonight.

Oliver Blum flushed at the friendly greeting. His cheeks became red like a tomato and the heat started to radiate from inside his body. 'She called me Oli again.'

The young man swallowed hard, fighting for composure. "So, how're you doing?" He asked stepping further into the room and closing the door behind him.

"Much better," Mary whispered in a low voice. She knew exactly which tone was appropriated to push Oliver in the needed direction. She played the young man like an instrument and she was a virtuoso.

"That's good." Oliver beamed.

It was just then that Mary noticed the tray the orderly was holding with one hand. She spotted a glass of water and a small container most likely filled up with pills.

Curiously she stepped closer. She rose to her toes and peered into the container. She found a white, a yellow and two blue pills. Her smile faltered a little. She knew that the white one was her painkiller and Mary was eager to take it. The cuts in her face still hurt like hell. The pain influenced her clear thinking and most of all Mary needed to be in control. The yellow one was her sleeping pill, but the blue ones were new. Mary guessed that they were the antidepressant. Until today she'd been supplied it through her IV, but since she was back in her room the doctors had decided to put her on oral medication. But somehow she had to verify her assumption.

"So we got white, yellow and blue today," Mary stated nonchalantly. "Almost the whole rainbow in one box." She smiled brightly and looked as innocently as possible at Oliver. "I think I'll take them all at once."

"Oh no,"Oliver argued. "First the blue ones. They're something to relax and to calm you down. Take those first. Yellow and white just when they're needed. You know the drill, right? White is against the pain and yellow is for sleeping well," the young man explained in his best lecturing voice.

Mary nodded her understanding. _'I knew it.'_

Mary fished the blue pills out of the box and placed them on her tongue. While she reached out for the glass of water she let them slip into her cheek and secured them with the tip of her tongue. Then she took a great sip of the cold water and proclaimed that she'd swallowed the pills.

Oliver observed her closely, but he found it hard to draw his view away from Mary's amazing green eyes. However, noticing the gulp running down Mary's throat, Oliver was sure his patient had taken his medicine. He grinned satisfied. "All right." He turned towards the bed and placed the tray with its remaining contents on the nightstand. "I'll leave it here."

Mary's eyes were focused on the man's movement. She waited for the right moment to react and just when Oliver turned back towards the door she took her chance. Silently she stepped up behind him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. The hand moved in small circle across the shoulder and Mary felt the body under her touch tense up. Oliver shuddered and with an evil grin Mary continued her work. Her other hand joined in and soon Oliver's whole back was being covered with touches. Oliver moaned in arousal and leant in the contact. He closed his eyes and let himself fall in to the sweetness of the moment. He loved this woman so much.

Reluctantly he forced himself to turn around, this was not the time for these games; he was on shift and needed to go to his next patient.

Turning around stopped the sweet ordeal and gave Mary the opportunity to set her plan in motion.

"Oli," she whispered close to his ears, "I need a favor."

"What do you want?" The orderly hissed under his breath.

Mary beamed at him. "I need to go out." With her index finger she stroke across the young man's face. "You'd promised to help me once again. Please."

The young man closed his eyes and fought down his agitation. Thus he missed Mary's hateful glance in his direction and the insane grin on her face. "Come on Oli, you'd promised."

Oliver swallowed hard; he couldn't deny her anything. "Okay." Halfheartedly he gave in. "Let's see if you're up to it. The pills may affect you, they're heavy stuff..."

Mary placed her hand across his mouth and cut him short. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Oliver let his tongue slip across his lips making contact with Mary's skin. He licked her fingers and savored her taste.

The woman felt bile rise up her throat. She wanted him to stop. But she needed him; he was her ticket to Charlie. She closed her eyes. _'I get what I want, soon!'_

"I think you must go now." Mary had gained back her composure. She let her hand slide across Oliver's face.

"Yeah," he pressed out hoarsely. And without a further word he left the room.

The moment the door fell back into its lock, Mary dashed to the bathroom and spat the pills into the toilet. Laughing out loud she flushed them into the sewers. "Good bye my friends. You will not keep me away from Charlie."

Still laughing she returned to her room and dropped onto her bed. It was time to take a nap; she needed to be wide awake in the evening.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**Once again, thanks for reading and reviewing.**

**A huge thank you to starfishyeti for betaing the story.**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

**13. chapter: Whereabouts**

The FBI headquarters in downtown L.A. whirred with life. Agents were running around files in hands, putting information together, hanging on their phones or checking data on their computers. Any outsider may have gotten the feeling that the bureau was a wild, unorganized place. But especially in the beginning of an investigation it was of an essence, that every lead, clue and piece of evidence was checked out fast. Therefore more people than usual worked in the office which gave him the appearance of a he-house. But despite that impression everyone knew exactly what he had to do. The more time they wasted in the beginning so smaller grew the chance of catching the unsub. Every agent had learned that the first day in the academy.

Colby stepped out of the elevator taking a moment to relax in the scent of activity and the will of success.

He spotted his teammates and stalked towards them.

"Hey, has something shown up?"

Megan looked up from a file she was studying. She pulled back her long hair, shrugging her shoulder negatively. "Not really. The CSI report is still to come and the coroner's report isn't due till tomorrow."

Colby sighed, frustrated. "Any luck with the witnesses, Dave?" He asked more out of habit than in expectation of a positive answer.

"No," David responded in a clipped voice, his frustration evident in this single word.

Colby punched him, in a friendly gesture, on the shoulder.

"Same with me. Prof. Sullivan wasn't that chatty."

Megan raised an eyebrow in surprise. "He's a psychiatrist, usually a very chatty group of people. What did you do, Granger?" She grinned sheepishly in his general direction.

"Funny Megan. He didn't want me to talk to Clark in person. Said I need a warrant. Only thing I got was his professional opinion, that Clark hadn't talked with anybody about her deeds." The agent shrugged his shoulders in defeat and let himself drop upon an empty chair in front of Megan's desk.

"I think he's right," Megan agreed.

"Why?", David asked unconvinced and looked at her with interest.

"She's an isolated mind," Megan began to explain, but was cut short by Colby.

"Yeah, that's exactly what Sullivan said."

"Did he?" the female agent asked with a smile in her voice. "And I thought Sullivan didn't talk much."

"She just killed for herself, she didn't want anyone to know." Colby recalled what the professor had told him. "He suggested that we should take a look at the people who had worked her case. All of them had the required knowledge."

Megan's and David's mouth dropped open in surprise; they'd never considered that possibility.

David scratched his temple absentmindley. "Maybe it's worth a shot. Just think about it. We found that smeared fingerprint. And Mary Clark never left any evidence behind."

"Maybe she was in a hurry," Megan threw in. "But actually there is no indication that Clark is the one we're looking for."

"So should we check it out?" David came back to the initial question.

Colby sighed, his inner voice kept telling him that something was off, but he couldn't name it. "I really don't know. But I guess we have to. I wonder what Don would do?"

"Oh Don," Megan spat out making Colby and David spin around, expecting to see their boss walk in. Seeing nothing, both men shared a questioning look.

"Sorry," Megan grinned sheepishly. "I just remembered that Don called. He couldn't get a hold of you." Megan's index finger made contact with Colby's chest. "So I was next."

"What did he want?" David was eager to hear, settling down on the edge of Megan's desk.

"Just to see if everything's okay."

"You told him about the case?" Colby asked, a little afraid of the answer.

Megan sensed the fear in Colby's voice and shook her head. "No."

Colby closed his eyes thankfully and let out the breath he was holding. He knew that he had to face Don at some stage. He just hoped it would be later, best when the case was successfully solved.

"He'll call again." Megan brought him back to reality. "And wants to talk to you. Keep your cell in reach, boss," she added ironically.

"I will."

"That's good." Megan grinned brightly and tussled Colby's short hair. "Don't worry, he won't cut your head off."

"We'll see." Colby wasn't that sure.

::::::::::::::::

Don leaned back in the seat of the cab. He closed his eyes trying to relax and find a way to really enjoy his stay without worrying too much. But he couldn't deny the odd feeling in his stomach, which had settled there the day Mary Clark had been sent to 'Sun Valley' and had deepened every day since then. It had got even worse after he had tried to call Colby, but his stand-in was unreachable. He had called Megan, but the female agent hadn't been that talkative as usual. That all had added to his inner fear and let him think the worse. If he just could have spoken with Charlie, but that was just wishful thinking. His busy brother was in class. Don promised himself that he would call Charlie again, as soon as the reached the hotel. He needed to hear his brother's voice and maybe then he would be able to enjoy his vacation.

Don must have nodded off in the process of thinking. The next thing he realized was his father's hand on his cheek, slapping him gently, accompanied by the order to wake up.

"What?" Don came slowly back to his senses, not ready to wake up completely. He opened his eyes, but all he got was a shadowed impression. "It' still dark outside, dad," he muttered.

Alan couldn't help himself and laughed out loud. "Oh Donnie, you must be really tired. We're in Hawaii, remember? Maybe you should take off your sunglasses. It's the middle of the day." Alan gave him the basic information about his whereabouts.

Don sat up straight, shaking his head to clear his mind. "Damn. I must have fallen a sleep."

"For sure son." Alan clapped his son on the shoulder. "So come on, we're at the hotel."

Alan turned back to the driver and asked for the fare. After he had paid him, with an extra tip, he climbed out of the cab and looked round at the hotel and the surroundings.

Don followed his father's example. He rolled his shoulders to work out the tension and took a first glance around.

The hotel was great; not the usual tourist trap. But nothing else could have been expected from Charlie. It was more like a two-story landhouse surrounded by a big, well-kept yard. The grass gleamed green and fresh and full of life and Don wondered how much water was needed to keep it that way. He knew about his dad's complaints about the water-bill every month, but compared to that area in front of him, the garden back home was nothing.

"Quite impressive, right?" Alan's voice dragged him out of his musings. "Charlie's done a great job."

"True to his word, dad." Don's words tripped with awe. "It's almost too good."

The men grabbed their bags and together they walked along a graveled pathway towards the entrance.

:::::::::::::::::::

Charlie walked back to his office. He had just finished the last class of the day and was thinking about heading home. Colby hadn't called again, nor had he shown up yet. 'Maybe it's a good sign.' Charlie considered while he opened the door and stepped into his office. The beams of the setting sun wandered across his desk and illuminated the room in a fairytale-like way.

His view fell upon his desk. He realized a sheet of paper, which hadn't been there before. Curious, he stepped closer to take a look. A genuine smile played around his mouth, while he read. Actually he wasn't that surprised that Don had already called. Charlie checked his clock. 'Must have called shortly after the landing.'

The young man lay the note back down and thought about calling his brother back, but then he decided to do it when he was home. He began to stuff his laptop, files and notes into his backpack, getting ready to leave when suddenly the door to his office flew open and Larry rushed in wordlessly and collapsed on the couch.

"Hey Larry," the mathematician greeted his friend without stopping his work. "What's up? I'm not through with your essay yet."

"Charles," the older man searched for words, "have you ever ask yourself, if it's possible to be in two places at the same time?" The physicist rubbed at his favoured spot on his temple, before he let his hand slide down to his cheek.

Charlie frowned at the question and looked sceptically at his friend. Charlie was well aware of Larry's tendency to wondrous theories, but this way out there, even for Larry.

"Are you alright, Larry?" Charlie asked concerned although he felt like laughing. He dropped his backpack onto the floor and approached his friend. Larry hadn't answered yet. He seemed, as often before, lost in space.

"Larry." Charlie laid a hand on Larry's shoulder.

The touch brought the older man back to the present. "Y-yes?" he stammered a little disorientated, his eyes dancing unfocused around the room.

"What's going on, Larry?" Charlie repeated his question and settled down beside his friend curious to hear about Larry's latest mind game.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you so much for the continued support and all of the wonderful reviews!**

**A huge thanks you to starfishyeti...**

**The stalker part 2**

**by elessar73**

****** 14. chapter : Foreboding ******

"What's going on?" Charlie's words echoed in the room, while Larry took a moment to think about the question.

"Actually nothing Charles," the professor admitted a little embarrassed. "And that's the main part of the problem."

Charlie's concern for his friend deepened. He believed he knew his friend better than himself; all of Larry's ticks and crazy thoughts. However, right now even the genius had problems following Larry's train of thoughts. However, something was going on and Charlie was eager to find out what it was.

"So what are the places you've been at the same time?" He asked in a stern voice, but he couldn't hide the edge of amusement in his tone.

"You think that's funny, right. But I tell you it's a serious issue." Larry rubbed his cheek nervously.

Charlie stifled a grin, but tried to keep a professional manner_. 'That's Larry for real.'_

"No, no, Larry. I'm serious." Charlie tried to convince his friend. "Just keep going."

The physicist cleared his throat. "Well," he began, "I was on my way to my office, passing several of my students, even gradstudents. You know me, when it's just freshmen I tend to ignore their behavior. In the past I'd often realized that they looked away, deliberately, when I'd pass. I wonder if they're afraid of me?" Larry asked into the blue, not expecting his question to be answered. "Though that's not the problem, but gradstudents..." Larry shook his head vigorously and for the first time Charlie got a hint of where this monologue was leading. "They didn't seem to notice me. They walked straight past me, without a nod or word or one of those usual questions like 'How you doing?' And not just one, but all of them. So I figured," Larry took in a deep breath. "I must be somewhere else. Maybe in a parallel universe, from where I can see let's say, real world, but I'm invisible for its inhabitants."

Charlie's eyes grew wide in disbelief; this was by far the craziest thing Larry had ever come up with. "I'm not sure, if I can follow you, Larry?" Charlie smiled brightly. " Believe me, I can see you sitting beside me on my sofa and I can also hear you. So you must be in the same universe as me."

Larry locked eyes with his friend and saw the smile playing around Charlie's mouth. "You think I'm nuts. Just one more crazy scientist?" Larry's head dropped dejectedly on his chest.

Charlie swallowed hard. "No, Larry, of course you're not crazy. Well, maybe you were lost in thoughts while walking down the corridor and you just didn't hear the greetings. It's possible, right? You know, with finals just around the corner you tend to let your thoughts drift away." Charlie smiled genuinely at his friend.

"That's reasonable." Larry admitted. He rose to his feet, rubbing thoughtfully at his temple. He was on his way out of the office when Charlie's amused words stopped him.

"Hey Larry, that's it? You leaving me without a word?" Charlie watched his friend through narrow eyes. "You're not any better than your students."

"Oh lord, I'm so sorry. There was just this idea popping into my mind." Larry turned around and squeezed Charlie's hand affectionately. "Thanks so much and good night."

"I'm glad I was of some help." Charlie let go of his friend's hand and watched him leave the office. Just minutes later Charlie followed his example and left CalSci, heading for home.

::::::::::::::

FBI-agent Colby Granger arrived at the Craftsman shortly after 6 p.m.. After a short stop at CalSci, where he hadn't found Charlie, he had voted, without further calls, to take his chances at the Craftsman. Colby parked his SUV and stared at the house. The building appeared abandoned. No light shone through the windows, there were no noticeable movements or sounds from the inside. Colby frowned, but Charlie's Toyota, his bike and Don's SUV were parked in the driveway; Charlie must be at home.

'In the garage,' Colby told himself, clapping a hand against his forehead. 'Where else?'

The agent climbed out of his car and walked across the freshly mowed grass towards the garage. He smirked, imagining how the garden would look after a few days under Charlie's view. Alan will be pleased. Colby grinned ironically.

He turned round the corner of the house and saw dim light emerge through the garage window to the outside and heard the scratching noise of chalk on a blackboard.

_'Bingo!'_

Colby knocked at the door, but didn't bother to wait till he was allowed to step in. The chances were that Charlie hadn't noticed the knock at all. The agent stepped in and took a curious look around. He noticed Charlie standing with his back to the door in front of his board scribbling furiously. The board was covered with numbers, unfamiliar symbols and signs and Charlie kept adding more and more. Colby shook his head. "Math stuff, huh?" he asked halfheartedly. "And I thought I was gonna get fed!"

Charlie turned slowly on his heels and smiled brightly at his friend. "Hey Colby, I thought you would never show up." Charlie let the piece of chalk he was holding drop to his desk and rubbed his hand against his jeans, leaving dusty marks on the fabric. "Actually you don't look like you're starving, but just in case I've already prepared pizza."

"Pizza?" Colby asked in a teasing voice, "And I was hoping for home-made lasagna or..."

"Ah, shut up." Charlie grabbed the chalk back up and threw it in Colby's general direction. Colby had sensed the movement early enough and ducked down. The chalk crashed against the opposite wall and smashed into thousand pieces.

"Good throw, not very precise." The agent laughed out. "But not bad."

"Funny Granger." Charlie tried to be stern, but he couldn't fight down the delighted feeling and joined in the laughter.

"Pizza is fine," Colby felt the need to add. His view fell back on the blackboard. "Looks like serious work," he stated pointing with his index-finger towards the numbers.

Charlie glanced absent-mindedly at his numbers, a fat grin around his mouth and a sparkle in his dark eyes. "These are just some simple expressions I'm preparing for my A101 math-class."

"You and simple? Somehow that didn't sound right." The agent grinned back. "So, what about dinner now?"

"All right." Charlie nodded his okay and together the two friends left the garage.

Colby set the table while Charlie sliced the warmed up pizza into pieces and brought it together with two beers into the living room.

"That smells gorgeous." Colby wrinkled his nose and plumped down on his seat.

"Dad left the whole refrigerator full with prepared food. He's always afraid I'll forget to eat," Charlie explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well that's not that far fetched, right?" Colby raised an eyebrow and looked inquiringly at the genius.

"Maybe," Charlie admitted, grinning. He raised his beer and took a sip. " So how's the case going?" Charlie dared asking, though Colby had avoided the topic stoically. "Since you haven't shown up at CalSi I assume the murder has nothing to do with Clark?"

Colby swallowed a piece of the pizza and washed it down with his beer. His mind was searching for an answer. He wondered how much he should tell the genius.

"Well," Colby locked eyes with Charlie trying to foresee the young man's reaction. He decided to go with the truth. "Actually not good, we have an unknown victim, tortured to death with several nasty cuts on his face."

Charlie's body flinched with every word that sounded so familiar. In his mind he began to run different equations to determine the possibility that Clark was back.

Colby squeezed his eyes when he realized that Charlie had stopped listening. The dark eyes of his vis-à-vis seemed to look right through him.

The agent jumped to his feet and made it to Charlie's side. "Charlie, you alright?" Colby laid a soothing hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Everything is fine. You hear me?"

After what seemed like an eternity Charlie nodded his head, the words finally had reached him in his occupied mind. "You told Don?" He asked in a low voice.

"You can't say that." Colby couldn't stop his grin.

Charlie looked up and stared bewilderedly at the agent.

"He called, but Megan just gave him a few basics, but I guess our luck won't last much longer. Depends on what we've found when he calls again." Colby shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah," Charlie agreed. "He called me, too, but I was in class. Actually, I expect the phone to ring any second." Charlie smiled brightly at his friend.

"Just don't worry, Charlie. I'm here to keep you safe and I will, come what may."

Colby amicably clapped Charlie the shoulder.

"I know, thank you," as Charlie whispered a cold shudder ran down his spine. Deep inside he felt that something was going on, something bad was going to happen. And no matter how much he hated to admit it, he wished his brother was at his side.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 15. chapter : First sight *****

Mary parked the yellow VW Beatle in a small, lightly occupied side street in Pasadena. She cursed Bloom for possessing such an old and strikingly colored car. It didn't fit into that good residential area and she could only hope that nobody would get too concerned about the old car parked in a side street and would call the police. She had played with the idea of parking the car somewhere downtown and taking the bus out to Pasadena, but on second thoughts the idea was dismissed. She had a very tight timetable with no time left to spend waiting for a bus. She had to be back in 'SunValley' in less than three hours, so it was past time to get moving.

She climbed out of the car and strolled along the street. At this time of the day the streets were almost abandoned. 'It's dinner-time for the good people.' Mary smirked sarcastically. She fell into a slight jog and reached the place of her desire in short time. Her heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest. The possibility of seeing Charlie again made her itchy and made her dance on the edge of her sanity. There was nothing left to hold her back from taking the last and final step. _'Very soon we'll be together.' _But she had to be patient; she had to wait for the perfect moment to catch him. Desperately, she hoped to get him today, but at the same time she knew that this was just wishful thinking. Today she had come here to convince herself that Charlie was still the same, the man of her dreams and worth fighting for.

The isolation of her prison had given her thoughts the freedom to grow. She had come to the conclusion that Charlie was her destiny, the real one. She had to win him to be free. After the mess she had caused by her last attempt to capture the professor's heart, she was sure that Charlie wouldn't come along willingly, nor would his brother let him go without a fight. Mary's hands clenched together into fists, her eyes darkened with hate and rage. Even when she'd managed to take Charlie, his brother wouldn't give up searching for them. They would become the prey of a fanatic FBI agent. They would always be on the run and always have to look over their shoulders. No, that wasn't what Mary had imagined in her perfect dreams - there was just one way left. Mary had sighed deeply when a warm feeling had began to flood through her body and had filled her completely. She had smiled brightly. Charlie and she, that was like Romeo and Juliette, and just like them they could only be together in death; forever.

The Craftsman came into her range of sight and Mary slowed down her tempo. The last thing she needed was to draw attention to herself by running down the street. While walking on the other side of the street Mary took a close look at the house of her desire. She saw two cars standing in the driveway; one was Charlie's blue Prius. A smile crept upon Mary's face when she remembered the night she had loosened the front wheelnuts and had sent Charlie crashing into a post. But then her plan of rescuing Charlie out of the wreck had failed. _'Just another plan that went wrong!' _Mary's hands clenched together and her breathing became rapid. _'Charlie is really hard to convince_.'

The woman took in a deep breath and banished the memories of her failure, here was a new chance and she wasn't going to miss it. The other car was a black SUV. "His brother," Mary cursed. "The FBI-agent could be a problem." To her dismay a second SUV was parked in the curb in front of the house and Mary wondered if she had to face the whole FBI.

She peered up and down the street. When she found that no one was watching she crossed the street and ran towards the house. The sun had already begun to set. The first shadows danced in the fading light and offered her the chance to become invisible, at least a bit.

She crept along the house till she found herself beside the living-room window. She rose to her toes and peered through the glass careful so that she wasn't seen. The sight, even though she had hoped to see Charlie took her by surprise and stole her breath; there he was...Charlie, dark curls and bright brown eyes. Mary gasped for breath, her heart skipped a beat and all she wanted was to reach out and touch those curls. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and fought for composure. When her heartbeat was regular again she took a further look.

Charlie was sitting at the table, eating, drinking and talking, but not as she had expected with his family, but with Colby Granger. The son of a bitch who had shot her in the hospital. At that time she had been so close to fulfilling her needs, but the agent had turned everything to mud. Involuntarily her hand reached for her stomach and touched the spot, where the bullet had hit her. Mary flinched when she remembered the impact; the pain that had run through her body, leaving her numb and almost dead. Hot rage built up inside her, if she had a gun she would kill that bastard right away. She moaned silently and pressed her eyes shut.

'Easy,' she told herself. Her head was spinning and her mind had gone on a rollercoaster ride. Her forehead fell against the window, but Mary had forgotten about her wounds. When the sore skin made contact with the glass she groaned loudly. The sound of her own voice made her nearly jump. Recognizing what she just had done, her eyes flew open and she found herself looking straight into the dark eyes of Charlie Eppes. The young man paled at the sight, his mouth hung open in disbelief. He seemed to be frozen in place. That gave Mary the opportunity to regain her control. In a hurry she turned around and dashed through the yard onto the street. She didn't dare to take a look back, she just ran.

After a while she recognized that she wasn't hearing footsteps behind her. Hope rose inside her, maybe luck was on her side again. Mary turned into the street where she had left the car. In the silent and almost dark side street she felt safe enough to slow down her steps. Her heart was racing and sweat ran down her face. _'Stupid, stupid, stupid.' _she called herself. She reached the car and jumped in. Glancing up at the review mirror she took a look back and sighed in relief when she found the street abandoned. 'Thank God. But what should I do now?' She had exposed herself. _'Nothing else was expected, my dear lo__ser_!'´ Her mother's voice rolled like thunder through her head. She smashed her hands against the steering wheel. 'Why was mother right again?' Tears sprung into her eyes and Mary sobbed loudly. 'Why, why, why?' But Mary had no time left for grief, she had to move quickly, as she may not get a second chance.

:::::::::::

Charlie and Colby were in the middle of dinner, engrossed in conversation, when Charlie realized that their bottles of beers were empty.

"Want another beer?" The professor offered.

Colby peered at his watch. "Well, it's still early, so why not?"

Charlie rose to his feet and grabbed the empty bottles, when he heard a strange noise from outside. He turned around towards the window and squinted his eyes a little. He took in a deep breath when he found himself starring straight into a pair of green eyes. His hands lost their grip on the bottles and they crashed to the ground shattering into thousand pieces.

Charlie swayed on his feet. He reached out his hand to steady himself and tried to breathe deeply in and out.

"Charlie!" Colby jumped up and raced to his friend's side. The young man was white as a sheet, his breath came out in gasps and Colby wondered what he had missed. "Charlie, what's wrong?" The agent observed him closely while he waited for an answer.

Charlie shook his head slightly. "I-I-I just thought I saw someone standing at the window," he stammered out breathlessly.

"What? Whom?" Colby looked frantically at the window, but all he could see was darkness.

"She looked like Mary Clark." Charlie added more to himself, but Colby caught the almost silent words.

Now it was Colby's turn to pale. "Charlie, you know what you are saying?"

The genius nodded.

"That's impossible, she's in..."

"I know, Colby," Charlie cut him short. "But those eyes." A shiver ran down his spine.

"Alright," Colby did his best to act like a FBI-agent in charge. "Sit down before you crash down and I'll take a look." Colby led Charlie back to his seat and settled him down. "You alright?"

"I think so," Charlie mumbled in a low voice.

Though Colby wasn't convinced by the answer he ran to the front door dragging out his service weapon. Carefully he opened it and peered into the darkness. The area appeared abandoned. He looked from left to right and then stepped into the yard. Seeing nothing he turned left and made his way to the window in question. His eyes searched the ground for footprints and he gasped in surprise when he noticed the pressed down grass and footprints in front of the window. However, there were no other signs of an intruder.

'So Charlie was right and wasn't hallucinating,' Colby hissed through his teeth and wondered whom they were dealing with. Colby glanced briefly through the window, careful not to destroy any evidence. He had a good look at Charlie who obviously had calmed down, at least a bit. A small grin on his face, the agent made it to the street. But whoever had spied through the window had had time enough to disappear and so it was no surprise to him to find the street empty. Nevertheless frustrated, he stamped his feet on the ground and grabbed his cell to order a CSI team to the Craftsman.

_'What the hell is going on?'_

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

A huge thank you to everyone who is reading this!

Thanks to starfishyeti!

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 16. chapter: Mistakes *****

Colby went back into the house and found Charlie still sitting, frozen, at the table. Concerned, he approached the genius and laid a supporting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Charlie, you okay?" The agent kneeled down in front of the other man and locked eyes with him. His forehead crunched, when he noticed a faraway glance in the usually sparkling eyes. "Come on Charlie. Talk to me," Colby begged for an answer.

With a sigh Charlie snapped back into the present. "You found something?" He asked hopefully.

"No, I'm sorry, but CSI and the police will be here soon. No need to worry."

Charlie nodded halfheartedly. "What about Clark?"

"Oh come on, Charlie. It couldn't be her," Colby explained, but Charlie stopped him with an energetic wave of his hand.

"Colby please, I saw those eyes. I'll never forget them. I faced those evil pools when Clark tried to kill me. It was her," Charlie spat out his body shaking in rage. "Those eyes follow me everywhere, even in my dreams. It was her."

The conviction in Charlie's voice made Colby shudder inwardly. Not so long ago he'd also believed that Mary Clark was back on the run.

"Look Charlie," Colby tried to act reasonable. "I'll call the hospital again and..."

"No," Charlie interrupted his friend. "Someone should check it out personally, please." The genius' eyes had adopted that special puppy-dog-glance that even Colby Granger couldn't fight.

The agent sighed in defeat and shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, I'll call Megan."

...

"Reeves," Megan's sleepy voice answered the call after the third ring.

"Hey Megan, it's Colby. I hope I haven't woken you up." Colby couldn't hide a small grin.

"Just a nap in front of the TV," Megan admitted still drowsy. "So what's up?"

"I'm here at Charlie's." Colby began a little unsure about how to carry on.

Megan's senses snapped back into focus and immediately she was on high alert. "Something wrong?"

"Kind of." Colby confirmed her guess. "Someone was spying on Charlie through the window and he's sure it was Mary Clark.

"What?" Megan nearly dropped her phone. "You saw her, too?"

"No, just Charlie. But he's pretty sure and ..."

"I'm on my way." The female agent interrupted brusquely, ready to hang up the phone.

"No Megan hold on," the sound of his voice made Megan stop. She frowned by the unsual harshness in Colby's tone. This was an attitude she was used to seeing in Don when he was under a lot of pressure. 'Must be a side effect of being the leader,' Megan assumed from experience.

"I have it all covered. I want you to check on Clark again. Take David with you and make sure she's no threat."

"Oh Colby," Megan's frown deepened. "You think that appropriate? We already checked her twice the other day."

"I know that Megan, but just do it. Even if it's for Charlie's peace of mind, please."

A grin formed on Megan's mouth and finally she gave in. "No need for begging boss. I'm on my way."

"Alright. Keep me informed."

"Hey Colby," Megan's voice stopped him from ending the call. "Maybe you should call Don. Guess he'd want to know what's going on, especially as Charlie is involved."

Megan ended the call, relieved that she wasn't in charge.

"Shit," Colby muttered while he closed his phone.

"What's up?" In the meantime Charlie had regained his composure. He knelt on the ground picking up the shrads scattered over the floor. "Megan's not happy with her task?"

"Oh, sure she is," Colby answered sarcastically. "I'm not so happy with mine."

"Which is?"

"Talking to Don."

"No!" Charlie shouted out, jumping to his feet. "Please don't." Charlie laid a calming hand on Colby's forearm. "We know nothing. So there's nothing to tell Don."

"Charlie," the agent tried to argue,"if something happens to you and I haven't told him - Don will take my head."

Charlie bowed his head and his curls covered his eyes. "I know, but it's his first real holiday in years and I..." Charlie shrugged his shoulders in despair. "I don't want to ruin it." Charlie looked like a little boy again and once again Colby gave in.

"Okay Charlie, a compromise. I'll wait till I hear from Megan, but it's all I can do. Maybe we'll get another lead."

Charlie sighed, relieved. He had won some time, at least a few hours. And who knew what would happen next?

...

Mary snuck through the secret aisle cursing to herself, 'Stupid bitch! I destroyed everything. What should I do now? How can I get a hold of Charlie now? Damn, damn, damn!' The woman punched her fist against the cement walls that surrounded her. She hissed painfully when the rough material cut her skin and blood started oozing out of several small wounds.

"Mary!"

She heard her name echoing through the floor and stopped in her tracks. "Yeah, it's me, Oliver." Mary shook her head; the last thing she wanted was to handle the orderly.

"Hurry up. You're late again." The young man paced in front of the iron gate that lead to the main building. "Where have you been?" The anger in the young man's voice was clearly noticeable.

"I'm sorry," she pressed through clenched teeth, it was all she could manage. How things stood, she may not need him anymore.

Oliver's eyes grew wide in surprise. He took in a harsh breath. "That's all? No explanation, nothing?"

Mary looked his way, rage and anger flaring in her eyes. "Yeah, that's all you get. Come on, I think we're in a hurry."

Oliver swayed on his feet. The words spoken by his beloved Mary had hurt him more than any physical assault. He felt his world falling apart; all his dreams and imagination were crashed to the ground. "B-b-but Mary," he stammered helplessly.

"Open the gate. I want to get back to my room."

"Mary what happened?" Oliver couldn't believe the change in Mary's behavior. "What's wrong? I can help you. Please let me help you," the young man begged. He reached out his hand to touch Mary's forearm through the wire frame.

When his sweaty hand made contact with her skin, Mary jerked her arm brusquely away. "Don't touch me."

Taken aback by the reaction Oliver took a step back. He bowed his head and opened the gate carefully not touching her again. As soon as the gate was opened Mary stepped through and passed the young man without looking at him. He was almost invisible to her. She stormed along the aisle, eager to reach her room. She heard Oliver's steps right behind her and an evil grin formed on her mouth. 'Like a little dog.'

She waited at the entrance to her room till Oliver had caught up to her. "That's what you call fast?"

Oliver flushed by the criticsm. The words had cut like a knife through his soul, destroying his dream of a happy future with Mary. He felt tears shoot into his eyes. He swallowed the pain and pushed the door open. As soon as the crack was big enough for Mary to slip through, the woman disappeared without further words into the darkness of her room.

She found her way blindly and made it to the bathroom. She threw the door shut and stepped into the shower. The hot water rained down on her. She closed her eyes and prayed that the water would wash away the mistakes she had made today.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for the delay, as a kind of excuse you get two chapters today!**

**Thanks for sticking with me and the great feedback!**

**Thanks to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 17. chapter: Presumptions *****

Mary stepped out of the bathroom. A cold shower had cleared her mind and somehow convinced her that she was safe. She had the best alibi ever. She was a patient in the high security-section of a hospital. Who could deny it? There was no obvious way for her to get in and out unseen. No one despite herself and Oliver knew about the secret aisles and as long as Oliver covered for her, everything would be fine. She just had to make sure that he stayed loyal to her. She sighed deeply knowing exactly what she had to do.

Mary pulled her hospital gown tightly around her body. Her eyes searched the room and lit up in satisfaction when she found her target. Oliver stood leaning against the wall beside her bed with his head bent. He looked like a teenager being called to the principal.

Mary put on a bright smile and stepped closer to the young man. "Olli, I'm so sorry." She tried to lay her hand on his arm, but to her big surprise Oliver pulled it away. He raised his head and faced her with cold eyes. All the love and passion Mary used to see in the blue pools were gone. The young woman swallowed hard. 'Maybe I've pushed him too hard,' she second-guessed her behavior.

"Oliver," she whispered, "I never meant to hurt you. You must believe me. I was just out of it, please," she begged in a low voice.

She tried to touch him again and this time Oliver let it happen. He sighed and let his head drop against the wall behind him. The look made Mary smirk._ 'Always the same.'_

"Please forgive me." She reached out her hand and caressed Oliver's cheeks softly. "You know that I need you, Oliver. I need you, I couldn't go on without you at my side." Mary found the words Oliver needed to hear so desperately.

The orderly nodded slightly, but no words passed his lips. His mouth was pressed together in a tight line. He inhaled deeply and finally hissed through his clenched teeth. "Tell me what happened, Mary." This time he was determined not to break down again.

"Oh Olli," Mary laid the palm of her right hand on his cheek. With a satisfactory grin she felt the tremble running through Oliver's body. 'That's the way!' she thought to herself turning it up a,notch. With her thumb she rubbed lightly across his skin, leaving hot marks of desire on the pale skin. She felt Oliver fighting against his feelings, but finally he couldn't hold out anymore. He leaned into the touch. His hand came up to grab Mary's hand and he forcefully he dragged it to his mouth and placed a wet kiss on it.

"Damn it Mary, what's your magic?"

"Hush, Oliver." Mary placed her index finger over his mouth to silence him. " I'm just the woman you love and that's all," Mary whispered ironically, but her tone of voice remained unnoticed by the young man.

Oliver bent his head towards her to kiss her when his beeper started its nerve-racking sound.

Brusquely he reached for the small device tucked at his waistband, reluctantly letting go of Mary.

"I gotta go", he declared after he had checked the message. "Prof. Sullivan wants to talk to me."

Mary's body tensed at the news, but she couldn't muster the courage to dig any deeper.

"You stay put. I'll be back soon." Oliver left the room in a hurry, leaving Mary alone with her sinister thoughts of failure.

Tired, she fell onto her bed. She pulled her knees up to her chest and let her head drop forward. She closed her eyes against the tears springing into her eyes accompanied bythe laughing voice of her mother.

_'Lo__ser, bitch, you will never be __any good. N__ever!'_

::::::::::::

FBI agent Megan Reeves sat in one of the easy chairs in front of Prof. Sullivan's desk, while David Sinclair paced the office, now and then taking a closer look at the diplomas, grads and accolades covering great parts of the walls.

"Bloom will be here soon," Prof. Sullivan anounced, while he took his seat.

"That's alright," Megan sat up straight and locked eyes with the doctor. "In the meantime maybe we cantalk a little about Mary Clark," she suggested.

Prof. Sullivan squeezed his eyes and looked inquiringly at the young woman. "I don't think so." He waved his hand in her general direction. "You already know what is to know about her and I'm not willing to discuss her case with you."

The determination in the Professor's voice made Megan flinch. 'This was going to be rough.'

"See, I understand your point of view," she tried to sweet talk him, " but this is a federal investigation and it's your duty to cooperate."

"Don't tell me my duty," the doctor spat out and rose to his feet. He bent across his desk looking at Megan eye to eye. "First of all my duty is to protect my patients and to take care of them. Mary Clark is stationed in the high security section of this hospital; there is no way for her to get out. And that's it." Prof. Sullivan smashed his hands on his desk.

"Prof. Sullivan," David stepped up behind Megan, "we really got your point, but..."

"There's no 'but'." The professor shook his head vigorously. A strand of his backcombed hair fell into his eyes. But instead of pushing it back up, he blew against it. The strand fluttered a little in the light breeze and finally fell back into place.

The agents shared a bemused look. _'Just like Charlie,__'' their_ glances told each other. A grin sprang onto David's mouth and for a second he forgot why they were here. But a knock on the door brought him right back into reality.

"Come on in," the doctor ordered brusquely and sitting down again.

Immediately, the door was pushed open and a young man dressed in white scrubs and T-shirt, stepped in.

Megan's head turned towards the man and her glance took in his appearance. With a slight grin she realized that one side of the T-shirt hung out loosely over his waistband. His blue eyes flew around the room taking in the scene in front of him. Megan realized that the young man hesitated to step in. He seemed to be a little scared or even shy and Megan wondered what was buried in the depths of his soul.

"Prof. Sullivan", he greeted his boss and nodded shortly at the two other people he didn't know. "You want to talk to me?" Finally Oliver stepped in and took position right in front of the desk, concentrating only on the professor. He could feel the inquiring glances being directed at him and shuddered inwardly. He couldn't fight the feeling that something was going on, that he was in deep trouble. The intelligent eyes of the woman seemed to look right through him and Oliver felt again the emotion he remembered from when he was a little boy. His father used to have that special glance from which you couldn't hide a secret and it was the same with her. The almost black eyes of the man, who stood behind the woman's seat didn't soothe him either. Oliver swallowed down the lump in his throat. He closed his eyes in defeat and waited for the things to happen.

"Oliver," Prof. Sullivan finally broke the odd silence that had settled between them. "These are agent Reeves and Sinclair. They're with the FBI and they here to find out if Mary Clark is still locked up."

"What?" Oliver's mouth dropped open, his eyes travelled in a hysterical dance from left to right. "T-that's a joke, right?" He stammered twisting his hands nervously.

"No, unhappily not." Megan stepped in. She sat up straight and looked the young man openly in the face. "You okay, Mr. Bloom?"

The orderly's face had turned dark purple and his breathing had become rapid.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Oliver fought for his composure. "I'm just surprised by that question. Mary is in preventative detention."

"Mary?" Megan dug deeper. "You call her by her first name. Is this normal?"

Oliver flushed even more and struggled for words.

"Well," Prof. Sullivan took over. "I believe it's important for our patients to be handled on a personal level. After all they are humans who need a state of comfort to get well."

"Comfort?" David couldn't hold back his anger any longer. "Clark is a killer, a serial killer of the worse kind. And you think it's important to comfort her?" David's dark eyes sparkled in rage.

"In fact that's my methodology," the professor was eager to explain.

"I get it," David cut him short, his dark eyes glistening with rage.

Oliver Bloom observed the scene wordlessly and just wished he could escape this nightmare.

Prof. Sullivan took in a deep breath and cleared his throat. "However, I guess you're done here. Clark is in her room and there is no way she could have gotten out, kill a man and threaten Prof. Eppes again." The professor slapped his hands on his desk - a sign, unmistakably asign that the conversation was over.

All of a sudden, all of the color drained from Oliver's face and he swayed dangerously on his feet. Megan who had been observing the young man from out of the corner of her eye realized the change immediately. She jumped to her feet and grabbed the orderly by his shoulder, giving him the needed support.

"What is it Mr. Bloom. Is it possible that Clark had left the hospital unnoticed?"

"W-w-what?" The orderly stammered, a bewildered look on his face.

"I think you understood my team mate pretty well, Mr. Bloom," David's voice was sharp as a knife and left no room for discussion. "What's going on with Clark?"

"Nothing, Mary is in her room, fast asleep," Oliver declared with all the conviction he could muster, but it wasn't good enough for the FBI agents.

"Well maybe that's the truth, but where was she two hours ago ?" David squeezed his eyes. Cold sweat ran down the orderly's face and David could tell that the man was lying.

"In her room, where else?" Oliver declared in a shivering voice.

"I think she was in Pasadena, stalking Prof. Eppes." Megan brought herself back into the game. "You mind if we talk to Clark for a minute?" Megan had turned back towards Prof. Sullivan, watching him closely.

"I mind," the professor pressed through clenched teeth, barely keeping his temper. "I suggest you leave now. Come back with a warrant." The professor's voice was dangerously calm and left no room for contradiction.

"But..." David tried it again; he was ready to kick in every door to get to Clark.

"David," Megan laid a soothing hand on the agent's shoulder. "Let's go."

She nodded a short good-bye towards the psychiatrist and left the office with David following close behind.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**And the second one - I hope you like it!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 18. Chapter: Wrong decisions *****

"Mr. Bloom, is there something I need to know?" As soon as the door had fallen shut behind the agents, Prof. Sullivan had rosen to his feet and had stared at the orderly curiously.

Oliver pressed his lips together into a tight line and thought about his options. He wondered what his chances were of managing to trick the professor, but what other possibility did he have? He would never reveal his secret to the psychiatrist - betraying Mary wasn't an option.

"No, sir, everything is just fine," the young man finally spat out with as much determination in his voice he could muster. And somehow it seemed to work.

Oliver felt the blue eyes of the man standing in front of himtravel across his face searching for an indication of a lie. Prof. Sullivan frowned, his gut was telling him that something was going on, but he couldn't name it.

"Okay," he finally gave in. "Go back to work."

Oliver nodded half-heartedly and turned around.

"You know where to find me, when there is something you need to talk about, right?" The professor added and stopped Oliver in his tracks. For a brief moment Oliver closed his eyes. He opened his mouth ready to talk, everything could be so easy if he just let it all go, but the moment passed. Oliver inhaled deeply. "Yeah, I know," he answered in a hoarse voice and rushed out of the office.

_'Mary, what have you done?' _

_::::::::::::::::_

The Craftsman whirred with activity. The CSI-Team had arrived twenty minutes after Colby's call and had immediately begun their work.

Charlie sat on the couch. His head rested in the palms of his hands and his dark curls partly covered his eyes. He observed the scene through slit eyes. But he wasn't concentrating, his thoughts had drifted away, searching for a logical explanation for what had happened. 'Was it really Clark I saw? Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me?' He knew for sure that Clark was locked up. The FBI had checked it out already. And it just hours ago he had told Larry that it is impossible to be at two places at the same time. The genius shook his head. _'Impossible.'_

"Hey Charlie," Colby slumped down beside his friend. "You alright?"

"Yeah sure, I'm fine."

The agent wasn't convinced; Charlie's voice was unusually low and held a hint of fear. "Don't worry."

"I'm not worried," Charlie folded his hands in his lap. Colby noticed a slight tremble. He laid his own hand in a comforting manner above Charlie's and squeezed them gently.

"Granger," Jason Brooks, leader of the CSI-Unit and Colby's old friend waved him to his side. Colby nodded in acknowledgement. He glanced at his friend, but Charlie didn't notice. The genius' eyes were focused on his lap and so the agent decided to leave him to his musings and stepped away.

"You have something for me?" Colby asked curiously. The CSI-man shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. We found a pretty good fingerprint on the windowpane. The sample is already in the lab."

"At least that's something. Good work." Colby clapped his friend on the shoulder appreciatively. "Hopefully the perp is in one of our data-banks and we get an I.D. soon."

Jason's glance travelled toward Charlie. "How's the genius doing?"

"Shaken, I suppose. But he's holding it together."

Jason cleared his throat. "You should inform his brother anyway. Don Eppes' temper is legendary and when it comes to his brother it's..." Jason waved his hand into the air and whisteled in a high-pitched tone.

"I know," Colby dropped his head. "But I promised Charlie to drop it till we get concrete evidence."

"Your call Granger, but actually I would think it over." Jason clapped him encouragingly on the shoulder and turned back to his work.

Colby sighed deeply, his inital fight was blusting inside him._'What the hell should I do.'_

He shook his head and accepting that he wouldn't find an answer to that question he walked back to Charlie.

"Hey, Charlie."

The professor looked up, the feeling of insecurity visible on his face.

"Let's go, we're heading out."

"What?"

"You're staying with me." Colby reached out his hand to drag his young friend off the couch.

Charlie's formerly fearful eyes became a stubborn and resolute glare. Colby hold his breath, his experience with the genius told him what would follow. And Charlie didn't disappoint him.

"No way, Colby " Chalie's voice held all the confidence he could marshal. "I will not run away, nor hide..."

"Charlie," Colby plopped down beside his friend and searched the dark eyes. "This is not open for discussion. Don will go crazy, when he learns about the things going on. You really believe I would leave you alone in these circumstances?" Colby tried to reason.

A small grin played around Charlie's mouth and gave him the look of a little boy. "Well, you may be right, but Don isn't here and I won't go. This is my house and..."

Colby sighed, frustrated, and waved his hand in defeat. "Okay, let's make a deal," he offered. "You stay, but I leave an agent here to keep an eye on you."

"Oh come on," Charlie tried to veto his suggestion, but just out of habit. Inwardly he was relieved that he didn't have to stay all alone in the house, though it was something he wouldn't admit.

"That's my final offer," Colby cut him short in his best FBI-voice. "Take it, or come with me."

Theatrically Charlie sighed, "Okay."

Colby nodded and pulled out his cell to order a protection-unit. He hadn't realized that his friend Jason had approached them and had accidently eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Hey guys," the voice startled Colby who looked up and glanced bewilderedly at his friend. "Sorry," Jason grinned brightly,"never thought it would be so easy to appall the old man."

Colby squeezed his eyes. "Really what do you want?" Colby didn't feel like joking.

"I can stay with Charlie," he declared in adown-to-earth manner, realizing the seriousness of the situation. "We're done and the team can do without me."

"Well," Colby gauged his options - the protection-unit would need at least thirty minutes to get here, which meant he would have to stay and waste precious time. Jason was a well-trained agent and absolutely capable of watching over Charlie. "Why not, if that's okay with you Charlie?"

Charlie's face had lightened up when he had realized it was Jason speaking. "Of course it's okay," Charlie grinned brightly at the CSI agent. He knew Jason from several cases and appraised the way he attend him. Though Charlie maybe a genius and Don Eppes' kid brother, for Jason he was just a team-member who had gained his respect by his own professionalism - and Charlie had done a great job.

Colby looked from one friend to the other. "I guess I'm out-voted." The agent came to his feet. "Alright, you can reach me any time. I'll return as fast as possible," he added. He couldn't banish the uneasy feeling sitting in the pit of his stomach. Rationally he knew that Jason would take good care of Charlie, but an inner voice kept telling him that he should stay, too.

"Bye, Colby, and don't worry." Charlie waved a short good-bye. Colby nodded and finally left the Craftsman.

The CSI team had left a few minutes before. The area around the house was empty again. Curious neighbours had vanished into their houses and only the yellow tape fluttering in the soft breeze gave proof that something had happened here.

Colby looked up in to the dark sky; thousands stars twinkled down on him. He took a deep breath while the still, warm air caressed his cheeks. It was a peaceful night, but somewhere underneath the stars, hidden in the dark shadows something evil was lurking and was waiting for its chance to strike again.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks for the great feedback. You are all awesome!**

**A hugh thankyou to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 19. chapter: Killing time *****

Oliver Bloom ran through the facility's corridors. His thoughts swirled around his head. "This doesn't make sense," he tried to soothe himself. "Mary would never harm anybody again. She loves me." Oliver prayed that he was right, but somehow he had his doubts. When taking a closer, unemotional look at Mary and their relationship it was easy to see the truth. _The red spots on her arms, when she'd__ co__me in the last time. Maybe it was blood._ Oliver shuddered. 'Why didn't I ask her?' He cursed himself. _Mary going nuts because of a hypnosis__ session that could__ reveal her inner demons. And Mary being friendly to me, whenever she needed something, but treating__ me like shit the other times. _'How could I've been so blind?'

Oliver reached the entrance to the high-security-section. He slowed down his pace and nodded in a friendly way to the officer standing guard at the electronicallysecured door. He showed his I.D. card and right after that the clicking of the opening lock was heard and the door swung automatically open. Once in the high-security area Oliver forced himself to keep his pace normal. Observation cameras were stationed all over the area and Oliver would have a hard time explaining why he was running like a maniac when there was no obvious emergency.

The young man sighed in relief when he finally reached the door of his desire. Rage and self-contempt for being so stupid to trust and believe a lunatic was boiling inside of him. The skin of his face glowed a deep purpled red and had become the outside expression of his inner feelings.

Forcefully, Oliver pushed the keycard into the scanner. The door patch opened with a click and Oliver pushed it open. He stormed into the room no longer concerned with his manners knowing that there was no surveillance inside the room.

Mary had lain down on her bed when Oliver had finally left her alone. Lost in thought she had caressed her sheets with the palms of her hands. The fabric had prickled her soft skin and she had felt a shudder of agitation through her body. "Charlie," she had groaned imagining the young mathematician kissing her and caressing her gently.

The sudden and harsh opening of the door startled the woman out of her dreams. She rose up and drew her legs up to her chest in a protective gesture. Wide-eyed she stared at the intruder. "Oliver, it's you." Mary released a deep breath when she recognized the young orderly. But suddenly an uneasy feeling built up in her. The hair on the back of her neck rose telling her that something was wrong.

Oliver Blome stood motionless against the closed door, trying hard to control his breathing and bring it down to a healthy level. His eyes looked sad and shone with a desperately disappointed light.

"Olli, what is it?" Mary asked haltingly. The bad feeling, settled in the pit of her stomach, deepened with the seconds making it feel like hours.

Oliver cleared his throat, ready to break the spell of silence. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE MARY?" He hissed every accentuated word.

Immediately Mary was on her feet, her mind was on a rollercoaster ride. "What are you talking about? Nothing. What am I have supposed to havedone?" Her brain had come to the conclusion that attack was her best defense. And for a moment it seemed to be paying off; the young orderly held his breath and swayed on his feet. Mary took her chance. She walked right in front of him, rested her fists to her hips and looked him provokingly in the eyes. "What have I done?" Her voice was low, no more than a whisper and it took all the strength Oliver could muster not to fall for it. The orderly closed his eyes and marshalled all the information he had. "Two FBI-agents have shown up, wanting to know if you were still locked away or have a way of getting out of here."

"Oh Olli, please", Mary stepped closer to the man and reached out her hand to touch him, but Oliver slapped it away vigorously.

"Don't touch me ever again," Oliver spat out. His anger boiled unfettered inside him washing away all his love and obsession for Mary. For the first time he felt the strength to push her away.

Mary stumbled backward; Oliver's words had hit her like a punch in the gut. "Oliver, please", she pleaded, "I have done nothing. You must believe me. I'd never do anything that would ruin our future."

"Shut up, just shut up!" Oliver shook his head in disbelief, the time for childish dreams and promises were definitely over. "We're in trouble here. The feds believe that you're on the run again, killing people."

"What?" Mary tried to sound surprised, but her sick mind had already made the connections. There was no more time for explanations and excuses; she had to act.

"Oliver" The woman focused back on the man. The orderly had started to pace the room, his hands hit nervously against his thighs. "We have to figure something out, some kind of story," he spoke more to himself than to Mary.

Slowly the woman approached from behind. She had found her way out already. Oliver had reached the small cupboard underneath the window. He stood bent over it and peered through the barred window. He shook his head stunned and Mary could hear whispered words though she didn't get the meaning.

Acting of their own free will, Mary's hands grabbed the belt of her gown. In a fluid motion she pulled it out of the loops and soon held it tautly between her hands. Carefully she took a finally step and cast it over Oliver's head.

Oliver gasped in surprise when he felt the touch of a soft, but at the same time rough fabric around his throat. "What the hell," he got out feeling the pressure on his windpipe increase. His hands flew up. He tried to get a hold of the small belt and tried to loosen it, but it was in vain.

With the power of a maniac Mary pulled stronger and stronger. The belt cut into the soft skin. Oliver's eyes grew wide. Panic-stricken he brought his hands back, hoping to push Mary away. But she adroitly avoided the punches, laughing out insanely. "Son of a bitch, you can't win."

Oliver swayed on his feet and his vision became blurry. A soft mist settled covered his eyes. He tried to breathe deeply to get oxygen into his system, but his windpipe was shut. "M-m-ary, please," he begged in a rough voice, it was all he could do.

"Just relax and let it happen. It'll be easier for you," Mary whispered into his ear and smiled brightly when she felt the power of the man falter. A death rattle escaped his blue lips. Oliver's body slumped back into Mary's, his arms dangled uselessly at his sides. His head rolled erratically from left to right. In a final attempt he tried to reach the belt, but his strength left him all of a sudden. Oliver's legs could no longer hold his weight. He collapsed on the ground, sighing one last time.

Mary followed his movement down never lessening the pressure on his throat. Oliver lay in a motionless heap in front of her. Carefully she bent over and looked him in the face. Oliver's tongue was swollen and protruded out of his mouth. His blue eyes were open in shock, starring blankly. All signs of life had left the young man already. Mary let go of the belt, observing fascinated the faint trickle of blood oozing out of the man's mouth. She grinned, satisfied. On all fours she crawled along the corpse. Nervously, she searched Oliver's pockets for the car key, which she had given him back just hours ago. Clutching it tight in her fist she rose to her feet and stormed into the bathroom. She dragged her black clothes out of the cabinet. 'Black always suits me the best,' she thought while she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

Just a minute later she was back in her room. She pushed the bookshelves aside and uncovered the entrance to the secret corridor. Mary peered wistfully at Oliver. "It could have been so nice," she whispered into his general direction, blew him a kiss and vanished into the dark maw.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

**Thanks for sticking with the story and all your kind reviews!**

**A hugh thank you to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

****** 20. chapter: Confessions ******

David Sinclair followed his fellow agent to the outside. He was still furious about how things had turned out. Megan had kept him from dragging the truth out of Oliver Blome and the professor had almost thrown them out like they were there to sell something. David cursed under his breath and barely kept his temper.

Megan Reeves felt David's dark, piercing eyes on her back and even overheard parts of the whispered curses. She could imagine that David wasn't pleased with her interference, but threatening Blome hadn't paid off either. And after all they had no evidence, no proof that Mary Clark had found a way to escape her prison. Megan shook her head and turned on her heels. "David, stop it, okay?"

David raised his hands in defeat and took a backward step. "Stop what?" he asked in a bemused tone, though the situation was anything but funny, staring closely at Megan through squinting eyes. Megan sighed and reached for her cell phone.

In the meantime they had made it to the main entrance. An assiduous guard jumped to his feet when he saw the two FBI-agents. He grinned in afriendly manner in their direction and opened the door by keying in the security-code. A loud buzz signaled the release of the lockand without further words David pushed it open and stepped into the courtyard. Megan nodded a short thank you and soon stood beside her colleague. They heard the door fall back into the lock and for the first time since they'd entered the hospital, they were alone.

David stared at the ground kicking against the gravel. "Well," he finally began turning towards Megan, but the woman stopped him with a wave of her hand.

She had her phone pressed against her ear. "Hey, Granger," David heard Megan greeting their temporary boss and walked low-spiritedly towards the SUV. He'd wanted to talk to Megan about the events first, but obviously she hadn't.

David paced the parking lot thinking the matter over. His inner rage slowly calmed down and gave his rationality room to grow again. Thinking back, he had to admit that he had stood at the edge of going way too far and he had to be grateful that Megan had kept him from doing something stupid. But nevertheless, his premonition remained and couldn't be shaken off with rationality. The agent leaned against the car when Megan finally joined him.

"You okay, David?" She asked with real concern.

David smirked. Megan was way too good in reading people and their emotions. "I guess I'm fine." he tried to assure her. Coming to a stop in front of her he cleared his throat. "I want to apologize," he began a little shakily.

"Oh forget about it, David." Megan wiped his words away. "I was close to hitting the guy myself and..."

"You're kidding me," David threw in, looking inquiringly at his friend.

"Not at all, David, not at all. Sometimes it's damned hard to play it by the book." She clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go, Colby's awaiting us in the office." Megan stepped around the car, opened the door and slipped into the seat.

"Has something new showed up?" David asked taking his place beside Megan and throwing the door shut.

Megan rubbed her forehead; her head slumped wearily against the headrest. "Not much. CSI found a fingerprint on the windowpane and Colby's praying for a match. Maybe it's identically equal to the smeared fingerprint we got from the crime-scene." Megan shrugged her shoulders. "But actually it would get us nowhere since the print was too smeared to use it for identification. It would be good if we get a face of the demon chasing us." The female agent closed her eyes. David started the engine and left 'Sun Valley'.

...

Don was awakened by the sound of his own scream. His upper body rose up, his dark eyes flew open and took a bewildered look around. Slowly, reality found its way into his mind. He sighed in relief and slumped back into his pillow. He concentrated on his breathing trying to bring his heartbeat back down. Inwardly he thanked his little brother for booking two single bedrooms. It would have been difficult for him to explain his nightmares to his father.

"Damn," he hissed slamming his fist into the mattress. His mind was wide-awake and sleep had become wishful thinking. In a fluid motion he swung out of bed and paddled bare-footed over to the small refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. He gulped the cold liquid down. Hefelt the coldness running down his throat and somehow it soothed his trembling thoughts. _'If only it __was that easy_.'

Don leaned against the wall. His exhausted body demanded what was his right. Wearily he rubbed a hand across his face, wiping away the traces of his sweat. He sighed deeply. "Something is wrong," he told himself. He had known it instantly when he was violently dragged out of his sleep. There was this aching and pitching feeling in the pit of his stomach that had never failed him before. He needed surety. The agent gauged his options, but no matter which train of thoughts he followed the result was always the same - he needed to know if his baby brother was okay.

Don walked back to his bed and plopped down on it. Automatically he grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand and without wasting a thought on the time of day or time lag he dialed Colby's number. First he had played with the idea of calling Charlie, his genius brother was sure as hell still awake, but he dismissed that idea. Alan had detained him from calling Charlie a second time shortly after they had arrived at the hotel. He had tried to get a hold of his brother straight after they had landed on the island, but he'd been in class. Alan had assured him that Charlie was doing fine and there was no need to check up on him every minutes. Finally Don had given in, he'd had nothing to counter the parental logic. Last thing he wanted was to become a greater mother hen than Alan. A small smile slipped across Don's face; he wassure as hell thathe was there already.

"Everything will be fine," he assured himself while he waited for the call to go through, but the feeling of fear inside of him was hard to beat. Don sighed in relief when Colby finally answered.

"Don, how're you doing?" Colby had checked caller I.D. before answering the call. Seeing the name of his boss flashing on the display of his phone had sent a cold shudder down his spine and had made his stomach flinch. He had waited on that call all day long, but finally receiving it was another matter.

"Fine Colby, everything's just fine," Don played along, but inwardly he was close to erupting like one of those Hawaiian volcanoes.

"That's good," the young agent answered nonchalantly, avoiding his destiny as long as possible. But an inner wish of sharing his worries forced him to the next question. "Why're you calling? It's early morning and..."

"Did I wake you up?" Don asked, cutting his agent short. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, we're still awake."

Immediately, Don was on high alert, his FBI-skills springing to life. "What's going on?" He demanded in his best leader tone.

Colby inhaled deeply, thinking about a strategy to ensure that he could come out of the mess alive. "Nothing serious, I guess." Colby closed his eyes in defeat. _'What a strategy._'

Instantly he knew that his boss wouldn't believe him. In his own ears his voice had sounded unsteady and fearful. He wondered who he'd been trying to fool.

On the other end of the line Don frowned. He'd been way too long in the business for not immediately detecting a lie, especially when a friend tried to make a fool of him. Don's stomach somersaulted when a cold wave of fear rushed through him. His body tensed at the impact, his heart began to race and in his mind he saw snapshots of horrible things that could have happened. "Tell me the truth, Granger," Don spat out sharply.

"No need to worry, we have it covered," Colby tried to soothe his boss, but it was in vain.

"Leave it up to me to make that decision," Don's brusque tone of voice left no more room for negotiations or childish hide-and-seek games.

"Well," Colby was stalling for time. "You already know that we're processing a homicide case." The young agent felt like a mouse in a trap, nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. "The MO of the murder conforms to Mary Clark's MO." Colby let out a deep breath. The words were spoken. It took a while for him to notice the completesilence on the other end of the line. "Don, you still there?" He asked almost shyly.

The knot in Don's stomach had tightened and he was thankful that he was sitting on the bed, not trusting his legs to hold him up any longer. "Yeah, I'm still here."

"But it couldn't be Clark," Colby finished his news.

"What?" Don asked nonplussed, wondering what he had missed.

"Even though the murder seems to be havedone by her, it's impossible. She's locked up. We've checked it several times and..."

"That's good," Don sighed in relief and felt a little of the pressure slip away. "Charlie's okay than?" Finally the most important question.

"Mhm," Colby hated to be in that position. "He's under protection."

"Why?" Don jumped to his feet, pacing his room like a jailed tiger. "What aren't you telling me?"

Silently Colby apologized to Charlie and began to reveal the whole story.

Don listen carefully, every single word put another weight on his soul and let his fear grow. When Colby had finished the report Don felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. A big stone lay on his body pressing him to the ground. Charlie was in danger and this time he wasn't even there to protect and save him.

_'Damn holiday!'_

_TBC_


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks so much for all the reviews! Finally, the next chapter...**

**Thanks to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part 2**

**by elessar73**

**21. chapter: Coming and going**

Don's brain worked at high speed, his trains of thoughts runnimg down a list of what to do. The agent smirked a little, imagining that his genius brother's head always worked at the speed of light.

"Okay Colby," Don had made his decision and immediately set his ideas in motion. " The most important thing is to keep Charlie safe. Take him to a safe house, do whatever you think is appropriate."

"Whoa, easy Don," Colby had the nerve to interrupt his boss.

"What do you mean, 'easy Don'?"

"I guess Charlie won't be happy with your decision to cart him off to a safe house. Actually he'll be pretty upset, because I've told you..."

"You know what, man? I don't care what my little brother is upset about." Don was in full FBI-mode. "Best thing would be if I talk to him."

"I don't know if that's such a great idea." Colby had his doubts. "See, all he wanted was for you and your dad to enjoy your vacation, without worrying about him."

Don's smile was genuine: that was pureCharlie, always helpful and providing for his fellow men instead of himself.

"I trust you to find a way, Granger. You're just as stubborn as Charlie."

"Look who's talking about stubbornness. Itmust run in the family."

Don enjoyed the familiar teasing and let his sinister thoughts drift away. But reality always found its way back into hisawareness. Don sighed deeply. "I'll try to get a flight back tomorrow."

"You really think it's necessary?" Colby tried to interfere. "I understand that you're concerned about Charlie, but we don't even have proof that Clark is involved."

Don's lips were pressed together tightly. He had to admit that Colby's words sounded reasonable, but his inner feeling was stronger than any rationality. "Spare your words Granger, we'll catch the first flight back."

"We?" Colby asked in a low voice.

"Of course 'we', You really believe that dad would stay in Hawaii?"

A smile lifted the corner of Colby's mouth and he nodded vigourously till he remembered that Don couldn't see him. "Alright then," He finally agreed.

"Good, I'll call when we got a flight. And Colby," Don raised his voice and the younger agent knew instinctively that something important was coming. "Take care of my brother."

Colby inhaled deeply and felt a heavy load falling down on his shoulders. "Yeah Don, I'll keep him safe no matter how big the cost."

Don's body was trembling. After he had ended the call he sat on his bed, the cell pressed tightly to his chest. He considered ways and means of how to deliver the news to Alan that he was going to break off his vacation. He collapsed back onto his pillow and stared at the ceiling, lost in thoughts.

'Hopefully everything'll go well!'

:::::::::::::::::

Charlie had settled down at the dinner table trying hard to focus on the papers spread out in front of him waiting to be graded. But no matter how hard he tried his thoughts kept on drifting away from the numbers and back to the evening's events.

Every time Charlie got the feeling he couldn't stand the memories any more he let his view wander to the figure nodding off on the sofa. On first sight Jason seemed to be fast asleep, but Charlie knew that the CSI-man would be wide awake at the smallest sign of danger. Every now and then the man shifted his position and scanned the room through semi-closed eyes. When nothing caught his attention he let out a slight snore and fell back into silence.

Charlie observed the routine grinning inwardly. His brain had already figured out a formula to define the pattern behind the behavior. Forcefully the genius dragged his attention back to his task. The papers wouldn't grade themselves.

The delusive silence was interrupted by the shrill sound of Jason's cell phone. The chords of 'Eye of the Tiger' filtered through the room. Charlie chuckled. 'Cops are so predictable.'

"Brooks," Jason answered the phone at once wide awake. While listening the man's expression changed from relaxed to alert and finally nervous.

Charlie squeezed his eyes and strained his ears, but from the part of the conversation he could hear he couldn't find a reason for Jason's reaction.

"What?" Jason suddenly spat out loudly. The simple question held enough urgency to bring Charlie up to his feet. On shaking legs he crossed the space to the sofa and observed the agent with concern. "I'll inform Granger and will be there as fast as possible." Jason rose to his feet and slammed his cell phone shut. He looked up and met the worried eyes of the young professor.

"What is it?" Charlie wanted to know.

Jason inhaled deeply. "Well, the lab confirmed that the fingerprint found at your window pane matches the print found at the crime scene this morning and..."

"What?" Charlie took a step back when realisation hit him like a slap in his face. "You saying the killer was here? Why?" Charlie stammered in a low voice. His face had drained of all color and he swayed dangerously on his feet.

"Easy kiddo," the agent tried to soothe him and steadied him with a firm grip around his shoulders. He led him to the sofa and helped him sit down. "Take a deep breath." Jason watched his friend with rising concern while Charlie shook his head in disbelief, forming unheard words with his lips.

"Look at me!" The strict words forced Charlie to look up. "You're safe, okay?"

"How do you know?" The question was barely a whisper.

The agent inhaled deeply, struggling for words. "It looks like it was Clark," he pressed through clenched teeth.

"What?" Charlie's mouth dropped open. "How?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"You'll hold it together, okay? Don will take my head when ..."

The mention of his big brother and his tendency to overreact brought a smile to Charlie's face. He relaxed in the feeling that Don would take care of him. 'But Don wasn't here.'

Then reality dragged him back down, but he affected an optimistic manner when he turned back to Jason.

"That's good Charlie." Jason smiled at him and clapped him affectionately on the shoulder. "I have to go to the lab and check the results. Just to be sure. You stay here and lock the door behind me. I'll call Colby to get a new surveillance team."

Charlie's eyes grew wide, the prospect of staying alone in the house made him shiver. But he didn't want Jason to worry about him. "Okay," he agreed in a small voice.

"You don't have to worry. Clark's in 'Sun Valley'. Reeves and Sinclair checked it out. Even though it appears she was here earlier this evening, now she's in the hospital."

"Even though it appears?" Charlie had noticed the doubt in Jason's words.

"We have to confirm it. It seems impossible that Clark is able to come and go as she wants."

"So you don't believe it was her?" Charlie's dark eyes lightened up with hope.

Jason shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Honestly, I have no idea." He rubbed his forehead nervously. "It's not reasonable, but the evidence..."

Charlie sighed deeply. "You better get going then. The sooner you get to the lab the sooner I can breathe easy again." The genius tried to smile while he watched Jason leave the house.

The door fell shut and Charlie dashed forward to lock it. With shaking legs he slumped against the door and looked at the ceiling. 'Take care of me', he whispered to every saint listening.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

Sorry for the delay, but finally the next chapter.  
>Thanks for sticking with the story and all the kind reviews!<br>A huge thank you to starfishyeti!

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

****** 22. chapter: Concept and accomplishment ******

"Jason, everything alright?" Colby didn't bother greeting his friend. When he'd seen Jason's number flashing on his display, his heart had skipped a beat and a surge of panic had flamed inside of him.

"Charlie's fine," Jason soothed his friend, havingknown Colby for years, he had developed a feeling for his moods. "Though we have a problem, well no real problem, more..."

"Make your point, Jason." Colby couldn't stand the uncertainty any more. He inhaled deeply, increasing his grip around his cell phone waiting for the news Jason had to deliver.

"I'm on my way to the lab," Jason started to report. "My men found out that the fingerprints from the crime scene belong to Clark."

"You're joking, right? This can't be true," Colby's yell broke off the conversation. His breathing had become rapid. "You're saying Charlie is alone in the house while Clark is on the run. Jason what's wrong with you?"

"Easy Granger. I guess your men have checked it out. Clark's behind bars. I really can't see that Charlie's in danger."

Colby let out a deep breath. He had to admit that Jason's statement was absolutely consistent. "You're right," he confirmed, "but somehow I have a bad feeling about it."

"I can imagine, Colby, but the sooner I get to the lab the quicker I get the results."

"However, I'd prefer it if you stayed with Charlie till I send a protection team." Colby couldn't fight his doubts. "Charlie must be beside himself," he tried to argue.

Jason smirked. "I wonder if this is the brother Don or you speaking? You're almost acting like the big Eppes-man. I'm already on my way. So your guys should hurry up."

"Don will take your head if something happens to Charlie," Colby pressed through clenched teeth. "And mine, too," he added silently.

"Maybe Reeves and Sinclair should go back to 'Sun Valley' and keep an eye on Clark," Jason suggested.

"Someone must have helped her get in and out," Colby mused. "Best to send a whole team."

"I see you have it covered man." With that Jason slammed his phone shut and ended the call. Colby shook his head in disbelief.

_'We should pray that nothing happens to Charlie,__ man.'_

_:::::::::::::::::_

Mary observed the Craftsman from her car. She had parked the yellow Beetle across the road, no longer bothering if the vehicle attracted attention. She had had to handle quickly with no time left for stupid questions or doubts. Charlie was her destiny, no matter what.

When she had turned into the street she was surprised to find it abandoned and silent. Somehow she had imagined a horde of police officers and FBI-agents populating every inch of Pasadena.

Mary was halfway down the street when a black SUV had passed her. Terrified, she had held her breath wishing she were invisible. She had closed her eyes for a brief moment. She had  
>re-opened them and the car was gone. 'Must be a sign!' she had laughed out loud. She had reached the house and stopped the car. Her eyes had scanned the surroundings. A yellow crime-scene-tape marked the area in front of the living-room window was all that indicated that something had happened. No police, nothing. Mary sighed in relief. She was back in the game. This would be very easy.<p>

A sadistic grin distorted her face. Combined with the scars, her appearance had become the perfect mask of hate and rage: pure evil. She would be the winner of thefirst prize of every Halloween fancy-dress ball.

She opened the door and climbed out of the car. She crept through the shadows, just like she had done earlier. Ignoring the yellow tape she reached the window and once again she lurked through it. Her lips were pressed tightly together. She couldn't risk giving herself away again. This was her last chance.

She saw Charlie pacing the living-room. The young man seemed to be nervous and twitchy. "I'll help you soon, my dear." Carefully she laid the palm of her hand against the pane. She was so close, but she still couldn't touch him. "I love you!" she whispered. "I'll do anything, just for you." Then she turned around and walked back to her car.

She slipped onto the dickey, her fists hit the steering wheel. "What am I supposed to do? I need to get Charlie!" Her thoughts flooded through her crazy mind in overdrive. The woman was no longer capable of thinking rationally.

Enraged, she covered her face with her hands. The still sore skin prickled under the touch. Mary let her fingernails sink into her cheeks and started to scratch them. It didn't take long to open the wounds in her face again. Blood trickled down her cheeks, coloring it red. Ignoring the stabbing pain every time her fingers made contact with the sore flesh she continued her deed.

Soon the blood ran freely down her face covering it with a surreal pattern. The blood clung to her fingers and dropped on her clothes. Mary grinned ironically. 'What good luck I chose black clothes; nobody cansee the blood stains.'

Suddenly Mary's vision became dizzy, bright spots began to dance in front of her eyes and the world started to spin. Reluctantly, she let her hands drop into her lap andher forehead fell powerlessly on to the steering wheel. The young woman sobbed loudly. "Why must love hurt so much?" She asked into the silence. Tears sprung into her eyes and mingled with the blood.

In a fluid motion she climbed out of the car and ran across the front yard. She was more than ready to break the front door of the Craftsman open and capture her prey, no matter what. Charlie was all hers and nobody could keep her away anymore.

_'I'm on my way!'_


	23. Chapter 23

Thanks for all the kind reviews!

Thanks to starfishyeti for betaing the story!

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 23. chapter: A melancholy fact *****

An uncomfortable silence had settled between the agents Reeves and Sinclair. While David seemed to need more concentration than usual to drive, Megan observed him out of the corner of her eye a faint grin on her lips. 'Those alpha-males, always with their heads through the walls.'

Eventually Megan couldn't keep quiet any longer. She cleared her throat. "David, there was nothing we could have done. We have no proof..."

"Yeah, I know," the black agent muttered. "But damn it." He slammed the steering wheel. "I know that something's off, this Blome's hiding something."

Megan looked sharp-eyed at her friend. "A hunch?"

"What's wrong with that?"

Surprised by the harsh reply the female agent backpedalled. "Nothing at all, David. But a hunch doesn't get us a warrant."

"I guess you're right," David agreed in a clipped tone, barely hiding the grin playing around his mouth.

Megan sighed and leant back into her seat. There wasn't much more to say right now. Mentally she started to create a list of the next steps to take when she felt her cell-phone judder in her pocket shortly followed by her ring-tone.

Startled by the sudden break in the silence, Megan searched nervously for her phone. Finally she pulled it out of her bag und glanced at the display. She flipped it open and greeted her team-mate.

"Hey Granger, you cravingmy voice?"

When Colby didn't answer she felt concern rising inside her. "Colby, everything okay?"

Alerted by Megan's tone of voice, David turned his head and looked at her inquiringly. Sheshook her head slightly, not knowing what was going on. She heard Colby swallowing hard.

"It's Clark," Colby finally spat out.

Megan's hand began to shake and she nearly dropped her phone. David noticing the reaction of his partner pulled over and stopped the SUV at the curb.

"What do you mean, it's Clark?" Megan had found her equilibrium back, but her voice was just a whisper.

"CSI found out that the fingerprint at the crime-scene matches Clark as does the print at Charlie's house."

"But that's impossible," Megan tried to reason.

"Obviously not," Colby's tone had become harsh and Megan flinched as if she had been hit. She shook her head. Her brain denied accepting the words she had just heard.

David shifted impatiently in his seat. He needed to know what was going on. Taking in the pale face and the shivers running through Megan's body he figured that it must be bad. David reached for the cell-phone and the female agent let it happen. In defeat she let David take over, slipping deep into her seat.

"Colby, what is it?" David bellowed.

"It's Clark. Somehow she manages to get away from the hospital and then back in."

"Damn it. I knew it." David slammed the steering wheel again.

"You must go back to 'Sun Valley', get Clark and bring her here. Back-up's on the way."

"Alright, but it'll take us at least thirty minutes..."

"Get going man. I have a real bad feeling about this. I want her inthe office, fast."

David closed the phone and handed it back to Megan who had regained control over her body. She stared at him with wide eyes.

"So it's true then?"

"Yeah. Shit, shit, shit. We were so close..." David felt rage build up inside him.

Megan reached out her hand and touched her partner gently on his shoulder. "We can't change it, but we canmake up for our mistakes.

David pressed his lips together tightly and nodded his head. Megan's words had made their point. He started the engine of the SUV. In full speed and siren howling they headed back to 'Sun Valley', determined to arrest Mary Clark.


	24. Chapter 24

Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews. You are all awesome!

A hugh thank you to starfishyeti for betaing my story.

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

****** 24. chapter: Delusion ******

Charlie had locked the front door, just as Jason had told him to do. He'd even checked all the windows. Finding them locked and secured hadn't brought him the sense of security he had longed for.

Tussling his dark curls he paced the living room. "This must be a surrealistic nightmare," he told himself. The silence encircled the young man like a heavy blanket, but it didn't bring him comfort. He felt more and more like a prisoner. His breathing quickened and Charlie knew that he was close to hysterics. "No! This woman will never again have control over me!" The young genius slammed his fists against his thighs. "Never again! I'm stronger!" His words danced through the silence of the room. Charlie closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths. An idea started to grow in his mind. A faint smile found its way onto his face. His dark eyes flew open and searched for his cell-phone. He found it on the dining table. Charlie grabbed the phone and quickly dialled Larry's number. His friend's chatter would distract him and would banish the all the sinister thoughts and memories lurking in the dark spaces all around him.

"Fleinhardt!" The physicist answered in a sleepy voice. Taken aback Charlie realized that it was in the middle of the night. Obviously he had disturbed his friend in his sleep.

"Hey Larry, hopefully I'm not interrupting something," Charlie asked impishly.

"No, not really." Larry smothered a yawn. "Just sleep, maybe..."

"I'm so sorry. I should let you sleep on then," Charlie suggested. Immediately he heard a deep sigh at the other end of the line and the sound of flesh rubbing on flesh. The genius couldn't help but grin at the image of Larry rubbing his favorite spot on his forehead.

"Now that I'm awake you might as well tell me what's bothering you and keeping you away from sleep, my young friend." Larry had regained his usual intonation.

Sighing in relief Charlie dropped back on to the sofa. "I was thinking about your latest theory..."

"Which one?" Larry asked doubtfully.

"About being in two places at the same time and I wonder..."

"Hold on, Charles," Larry stopped his friend mid-sentence. He tried to see into the meaning of Charlie's thoughts. Somehow he felt that there was something else his friend was worried about. "What's wrong? Because if I remember correctly you are the one telling me that it's impossible to be in two places at the same time. So what's this all about?"

"Larry, Larry, Larry," the young man laughed out. "You really know me way too good." Charlie smiled brightly and for a brief moment he forgot his troubles. But the moment was ephemeral. Charlie cleared his throat. "Well, getting to the point, I think I saw Clark observing me through the living-room window."

"What?" Instantly Larry was wide-awake.

"Relax, Larry," Charlie tried to soothe his friend. "Megan and David had checked her out. It couldn't be her - impossible." But Charlie was anything else but sure.

"Charles, don't try to fool me. There's something else." Larry nervouslyshifted in his bed and came up into a sitting position.

Charlie sighed. It had been his idea to call his friend. It was only fair that he tell him everything. " CSI found a fingerprint and first tests confirmed that it matches Clark. Jason, the CSI-man, supposedly staying with me, is on his way to the lab to double-check it."

"You saying you're on your own now?" The physicist couldn't believe what he had just heard. "I'm on my way."

"No Larry, please," Charlie's strenuous appeal forced Larry to pause. "Colby sent someone over and actually I'm in no danger. I'm so sorry to annoy you with my problem." Charlie dropped his head. On second thoughts his idea wasn't that good. He had only woken Larry's concern for him.

"Oh, Charles. Shut up. You know I'm always there for you, no matter what time or place?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm just a little nervous, I guess..."

A knock on the door interrupted Charlie's explanation. Automatically his grip around the phone became firmer.

"Charles..." Larry ordered, when his friend had stopped talking. But all he heard was harsh breathing. Helplessly he started to yell, "Charles, what's wrong?" He jumped out of his bed, searching for his clothes. His friend needed him right now.

"Someone's at the door," Charlie's faint voice reached his ears.

"Charles, stay away. Call Colby, whatever, but stay away from the door!"

Though the genius had heard the words he couldn't help himself. Something wasdragging him towards the door. Curious about what was waiting for him he stood up and sneaked forward. "I'm just taking a look through the window. Most likely it's the agent Colby's sent," Charlie argued.

"No Charles. An agent had envisaged. Stay away, please!" Larry pleaded.

"Pssst, Larry." Charlie had reached the door and waspressing his body tightly against the wood. His heart was racing and cold sweat ran down his face. Carefully he turned around and peered through the small window in the middle of the door.

What he saw took his breath away. "Oh, my god!" He screamed. He let his cell-phone drop to the floor. With shaking hands he unlocked the door.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

Thanks again for sticking with me and for the great feedback.

I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read and review.

Thank you to the wonderful starfishyeti!

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

**25. chapter: The long way home**

Mary's heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest. After she had knocked at Charlie's front door her hand had sunk weakly to her side. She held her breath looking worriedly from left to right. But nothing caught her attention; the yard and surrounding area lay peaceful under a starry sky.

When the pain in her face as in her heart had become too much to bear Mary had pushed open the door of the car and had slipped out of it. Her whole body was throbbing like hell, but she had known, it was now or never. On wobbly legs she had stood besides the car. She had reached out her arm to steady herself when her world had begun to spin. "Whoa," she had muttered silently. Mary had bent her head forward and had taken some deep breaths hoping to recapture control over her body. Her green eyes were focused on the ground. Even in the dim light of the night she had seen the red drops falling from her face onto the cement. She had shaken her head in disbelief causing a bloody drizzle to rain down.

Absent-mindedley her hands had came up to her face and had touched the sore skin. She had cursed her own dullness when a wave of piercing pain had rolled across her face. "Easy," she had told herself. The maniac had pressed her eyes tightly shut evoking pictures of Charlie in her mind. A faint grin had floated around her mouth. She had sighed deeply and for a brief moment she had forgotten who and where she was. She had felt like a little girl again when Mickey hadn't yet been born and she was lucky and jaunty. The moment had passed and with it all her pain had vanished. Mary's eyes had flown open. She had clenched her hands and had stormed across the street and through the yard straight to the front door. Automatically her hand had come up and without knowing what to expect or what to do she had knocked at the door, driven by her desire to get to Charlie.

:::::::::::::::::::::

Don couldn't think of going to sleep again. An inner voice kept telling him that something awful was going on and that his little brother was part of it. He slammed his fist forcefully into the mattress of his bed.

After he had ended the call with Colby he had collapsed back onto the bed and had pressed his eyes shut, but it was in vain. No matter how hard he'd tried to find some peace of mind, the sinister thoughts about Mary Clark being on the run had found their way back into his cogitations. Finally he had given up; hitting the bed again and again wasn't a solution either.

Don sighed and swayed out of the bed. He walked over to the window and peered into the night. 'It could have been so nice,' the agent thought wistfully. 'But destiny had other plans.'

All of a sudden snap shots of Charlie lying in his own blood, tortured to death popped through his mind. Don's legs started to shake. The agent reached out his hand to steady himself against the window frame. "Oh, my god. I need to go home. Charlie needs me."

Don shook his head violently to get rid of the dark forebodings praying silently that he had still enough time to get home. He stormed back to grab his phone when a knock at his door made him change direction.

Rubbing his weary, dark eyes the agent opened the door and found himself staring directly in to the concerned eyes of his father. Somehow it didn't surprise Don at all to find Alan standing there. The emotional connection between three of them was special.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Don asked while he stepped aside to give his father access to his room.

"Same question to you. What's going on?"

Don grinned inwardly, his father had his classical way of coming to the point - always straight talking.

"Sit down, dad." Don pulled out a chair for his old man. When Alan was seated he sat down across from him. "Something to drink?" Don was playing for time.

Alan scratched his chin and shook his head slightly. "No games, Donnie. What's wrong?"

Don slumped back in his seat; this scene resembled a meeting in the FBI-break room just months ago. Alan had asked the same question and just like then Don didn't know what to say. At that time Don had shared his speculations, which had turned out to be the truth. And now, what should he say?

He was so afraid that his feelings were correct again. He sighed unconsciously.

"Donnie?" Alan reached over and caressed his son's arm softly.

"Sorry Dad. I was lost in thoughts." Don grinned half heartedly. "I have to go home." Don looked up, expecting a veto and thousands of questions raining down on him, but Alan just nodded his head. "I think Charlie is in danger," Don explained.

Alan took in a sharp breath but remained unusually silent.

"Damn it," it burst out of Don. The agent couldn't sit still any longer. He rose to his feet and started to pace the room. "I shouldn't have left in the first place. I knew that something was going on..."

"Donnie, what are you talking about?" Finally Alan couldn't hide his impatience. An uneasy feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach and had grown bigger and bigger as he watched his son.

"There's this murder case back in L.A. The victim and M.O. conforms to Mary Clark's..."

"What?" Alan jumped to his feet.

"It couldn't be her. The team had checked her out," he explained in a low voice.

"But you don't believe it." Alan was trembling. His vision became blurry when tears shot into his eyes. The old man felt like his heart was being ripped in two.

Don squeezed his eyes shot to banish the image of his father begging for the whole story.

"Charlie saw her, well he thought it was her. She stood at the window and peered through it..."

"What are we doing here then?" Alan had heard enough. "Let's go home. Charlie needs us."

"But dad..." Don tried to reason.

"What? You think I'm sitting here while the world's crashing down on my little boy?"

"No dad, I never expected that," Don smiled brightly. "You're right. Let's see if we can get a flight back home."

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

Thank you so much for your continued support!

A huge thank you to starfishyeti for your beta skills and advice!

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

**26. chapter: The long way home part2**

Don lifted the receiver of the phone. He pressed the zero button to connectwith the front desk.

A kindly female voice answered the phone. The front desk girl listened attentively and though it was in the middle of the night the woman checked the means available for the Eppes to get back to L.A. as fast as possible.

Alan's eyes were glued to Don's lips while he was speaking and noticed with distress when Don's body tensed and began to tap his thighs nervously.

Alan felt his own heartbeat increase. He could barely remain silent, let alone sit still. In the moment Don slammed the receiver back on the phone, swearing badly, Alan was on his feet and at Don's side.

"What is it, Donnie?" Alan asked impatiently, though he was afraid of the answer.

"We can't go home," Don pressed through clenched teeth.

"What do you mean 'we can't go home'?" Alan laid a hand on Don's shoulder. "Donnie?"

The worried voice of his father filled his head. Harshly, he broke free from the older man. His thoughts were on a rollercoaster ride and the agent didn't have the nerves to deal with his concerned father. Resentfully, he began to pace the room again and this time he really hit his thighs hard.

"There's a storm front heading towards the island. The airport is already closed. They'll be no flights to the mainland for at least 12 hours," Don finally explained. "We're stranded." Don shook his head in disbelief. "This is crazy..."

Alan had paled by the words. His mind refused to understand the meaning of what Don had just said. "But we have to get to Charlie," Alan mumbled in a low voice. His legs began to wobble and the older man collapsed, mentally frazzled, on the bed.

"I know, dad," Don spat out. When he turned around he noticed the bad shape his father was in. Instantly he felt guilty. He repressed his own fear and anger and sat down beside the other man. Don grabbed Alan's hands and pressed them tightly. "Don't worry, dad. Colby, Megan and David will take care of Charlie. He'll be fine."

The two Eppes locked eyes. Alan managed a despondent smile. "Sure, son. Now then, how's Charlie doing? You've surely talked to him already." Expectantly Alan blinked, but what he saw made him shiver.

Don's face was white as a sheet and his features were tense. "Damn it! In all that mess I forgot the most important thing."

Alan remarked the change in Don's behavior, knowing his son by heart he felt that his older son was close to losing it. Encouragingly he tapped him on the shoulder. "So let's do it now, together. I'm sure Charlie is pleased to hear from us."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Charles, don't open the door!" But Larry Fleinhardt's sream went unheard when Charlie had looked through the window and had stared straight into a blood covered face. The young genius' heart had skipped a beat and his trembling hands had dropped the phone. Shattered, he had taken a step back thinking despairingly about what to do.

Jason's instruction to keep the door locked, no matter what, had become insignificant when Charlie's cooperativness had taken over.

Whosoever stood in front of the door was in need of help and Charlie was the last person who could deny it.

Against all reason, Charlie banished the moving words of his friends into the back of his mind and unlocked the door. He opened it a gap and for a brief moment he stood eye to eye with the female intruder. Blood ran freely down the woman's face till it dropped from her chin onto the ground. Charlie let his view wander further, but despite the cuts in the face the woman seemed to be unharmed. "What happened?" he dared to ask and looked back up again. But any further question died on his lips when he noticed the cold, evil, green eyes.

Recognition hit him hard. Surprised the genius howled and stepped away from the entrance, ready to slam the door shut again. But it was too late.

Mary didn't say a word. She was captured by the sight of Charlie. Her awe for the young professor had impended to ruin her plans, but just in time she was able to react again.

Forcefully, she threw herself against the wooden door. The power of the collision took Charlie by surprise. The door hit his shoulder and he stumbled backwards. He reached out his arms to find his balance or at least something to steady himself.

His mind searched for an escape. Knowing his house by heart it should have been easy for him to use this advantage, but his head refused to work right. As a point of fact it was occupied with Larry's former question; was it was possible to be in two places at the same time?

A small smile appeared on his mouth. Obviously he was wrong when he had purported that it was impossible. Right here was the proof - Mary Clark was in his house even though she was locked up in a high-security facility.

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

Once again, thanks to everyone who is reading this.

A huge thank you to starfishyeti.

A Merry Christmas to all of you!

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

**27. chapter: Mary is there**

Mary Clark observed Charlie's attempt to escape through narrow eyes. The force of throwing open the door had hit Charlie like a sucker punch and had sent him stumbling backwards. For a few seconds she stood motionless. Overwhelmed by the way the situation had turned out Mary needed some time to comprehend her luck. 'This is just amazing! I'll finally be with Charlie...finally!'

A satisfied grin started to dance around the corners of her mouth and the young woman rubbed her hands in happy expectation; this was better than Christmas and birthday together. "Charlie, don't run away. Can't you see it, we belong together," she whispered in a hoarse voice and took her first step towards her prize.

"No, no, no!" Charlie screamed out in panic trying to get as far away from the maniac as possible. He stumbled through the living room. Hitting his knee against side table he howled out in pain.

"Don't fight it my dear. This is our time!" Mary's word of conviction rolled like a thunderstorm through Charlie's mind. He shuddered imagining what would happen to him next. He knew from experience that Mary Clark would do everything to reach her goal. Fear shook his body and took his breath away. 'Is this the end?' he asked himself. Crestfallen, he closed his eyes and saw pictures of her previous victims: tortured bodies and dissected faces. Instinctively he knew that he had a high chance of ending up this way. He didn't need any equation or formula to figure that out. Tears sprang into his eyes when he thought about Alan and Don finding him covered in blood and mutilated. He shook his head; no he couldn't let that happen. It would break their hearts. The young genius clenched his hands into fists, ready to fight for his life.

Desperately he tried to marshal his thoughts. This was his home, so he should find a way to use that advantage. In fact it was simple, he had to get out and call for help. Silently, Charlie prayed for the strength to carry out the task. He couldn't risk getting into a fight with Mary. He had first hand experience that the woman was strong as a bear and determined to do everything to catch him, even at the risk of her own life. His only chance was to run.

But Mary had other plans. Mary's mind had taken sometime to understand what had just happened, but finally her insane brain took control and the woman acted on autopilot. She stepped into the house and slammed the front door shut, cutting off the most promising escape Charlie had thought of.

The man swayed heavily on his feet when he realized that he was trapped. He narrowed his eyes watching Mary's progress doubtfully. All his heroic thoughts were gone. But then a rush of adrenaline rushed through him and brought the will to survive to life again.

The young man turned on his feet and dashed towards the kitchen, the back door was his best chance now. And besides that he would find something to defend himself there. He pictured his father's beloved meat knife.

The passage to the kitchen came into reach. His view was focused on the door, ignoring everything else around him. Hearing Mary breathing close behind him could send him straight over the edge. 'Just a few more steps.' In full flight Charlie raised his arms, ready to push the door open.

But suddenly the sound of approaching steps found their way into his brain and a cold hand of fear encircled his heart. He heard the blood rush in his ears, his heart rate accelerate, bright spots of light began to dance in front of his eyes and he tasted blood in his mouth.

Anted up all strength he had left Charlie chased forward. His fingertips made contact with the wood of the door and a slight smile of relief formed on his mouth when something hit his back. A piercing pain shot through him, leaving his limbs numb. His legs wobbled under his weight and refused to work properly. All of a sudden weakened and Charlie collapsed on tothe ground. Instinctively, he genius reached out his arms to cushion the crash.

Unfortunately his left hand hit the ground at a wrong angle. Charlie heard several bones snap and almost at the same time a piece of bone pierced the skin of his hand. Blood oozed out of the wound. Charlie's view was glued to his hand observing the swelling and discoloration of his limb within seconds. Amazed he stared at the white bone sticking out like a shark tooth and wondered why he didn't feel any pain.

But he couldn't stop the tears running down his cheeks, leaving a wet sheen on his heated skin. Charlie pressed his broken hand protectively against his chest and finally began to sob and howl in pain. Buried in his misery he had forgotten about the predator lurking behind him. Out of the blue he was hit on the back of his head. Hysterically,the young man laughed out loud. "Are you nuts?" He turned his head to look Mary in the eye when his world began to spin. Before Charlie drifted into darkness he caught a glimpse of his enemy staring down at him with glittering green eyes and a sadistic grin on her face. But the most disturbing thing he realized in his dazed mind was his father's favorite table lamp in Mary's hand, dropping blood on to the carpet...

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

Thanks to those who read, favorited, alerted and reviewed this story. You are all awesome!

A special thank you to starfishyeti for her beta-skills and help along the way.

I wish you 'health, wealth and happiness' for 2012!

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 28. chapter: It's late, too late *****

Megan and David returned to 'Sun-Valley' at the speed of light and found the whole facility brightly illuminated and busy. Security officers, nursing staff and several other employees were running around like a nervous flock of sheep outside the facilities, obviously looking for something.

Cold fear captured the agents' hearts. Instinctively they knew that something really bad had happened.

The SUV came to a halt at the iron front gate. David impatiently showed his badge. "What's happened?" he asked in a tight voice, not sure if he really wanted an answer.

The officer at the gate swallowed hard. "An inmate escaped, killed an orderly first and then up and away." The young man waved his hand, grinning sardonically.

"You think that it's a joke!" David cursed under his breath. Out of the corner of his eye he observed Megan's reaction. The female agent grabbed the door handle tightly and held her breath.

"Who escaped?" David demanded brusquely.

The officer flushed and looked shamefacedly to the ground, realizing his mistake. "Mary Clark."

"Damn it!" The black agent hit the steering wheel. "Open the gate!" His order left no room for contradiction.

The officer stormed into the guardhouse and operated the door release. Slowly, too slowly in David's opinion, the gate slipped open. As soon as the gap was big enough for the SUV to pass, David pressed on the gas pedal and shot like a black arrow onto the clinic area. The gravel crunched under the wheels and flew up in to the air behind them.

Stressed, Megan held her breath, expecting the car to drift onto the green and hit one of the nearby trees. Though the situation was everything else but funny, David couldn't help but grin at Megan's behavior. "Trust me, Megan. The car and me understand and trust each other," David declared convincingly.

"Well, that really helps me to calm down." Megan looked at her teammate. "You understand the car. Hopefully it's a male one."

"What?" David shook his head smiling brightly. "The psychologist is taking over."

Megan nodded her head. "Something like that." Amicably, she laid her hand on David's arm. "However, slow down. We won't gain anything when you crash the car."

"Aye, Aye Captain!" David reduced the speed and they reached the main entrance safe and sound.

The moment the car stopped David pushed his door open and slipped out. Megan glanced at him, concerned. She'd known David for years and was well aware that the agent was close to the edge, in great danger of losing his temper. Nobody could say what David would do once he'd found Prof. Sullivan.

Megan followed closely behind her friend. She reached out her hand and grabbed David's arm. The man stopped and turned around looking inquiringly at Megan. He raised his eyebrow.

"Keep cool, David, okay?" Megan's voice was just a whisper but it held enough determination to make David think twice. "It'll help nobody if you lose it. We need the help of the professor to find out what's happened."

"But," David tried to argue. He could barely subdue his rage.

"Think about Charlie. If Clark is out there, he may be in danger..." No further words were needed. David bowed his head in defeat.

"Damn it!" He spat out all of a sudden. "We have to inform Colby. He must increase surveillance to ensure Charlie's safety."

Megan paled by the words and clapped her hand across he mouth. "Shit, that's the most important thing. I can't even imagine Don's reaction if something happens to Charlie. I guess the apocalypse is nothing compared to him."

David acted immediately. He grabbed his cell phone and speed dialed Colby's number, praying one more time that they weren't too late.

TBC


	29. Chapter 29

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 29. chapter: A last chance? *****

The howling of sirens disturbed the elusively, peaceful silence of the night. Pasadena seemed to be fast asleep under a cloudless sky, quiet and calm. But the agents racing in their black SUVs through the deserted streets knew that this was just wishful thinking.

Ignoring every speed limit and traffic light the motorcade made good time and reached its target in record time.

As soon as the cars came to a halt, the doors were flung open and disgorged several well trained and armed FBI-agents as well as members of the SWAT-Team.

Colby Granger, officer-in charge, stood beside his car and glanced toward the Craftsman house. He gasped in surprise when he noticed the wide open door, hanging loosely in the doorframe. 'This can't be good!' Automatically his hand searched for his service weapon. He dragged the gun out of its holster and flipped off the safety. A nod of his head was all that was needed to set the group in motion. Every agent knew his or her course of action, no further word was needed.

Aiming at the door, Colby creept forward followed by several agents. The rest of the group spread out as backup surrounding them.

Colby heard his blood rush through his ears and cold sweat ran down his face stinging his eyes. Harshly, he wiped the sweat away and cursed silently. The agent lifted his hand and stopped his forward movement. He narrowed his eyes and peered at the house, hoping desperately to see, or at least hear something from inside. But it was in vain, the house remained as noiseless and silent as a morgue.

A cold shudder ran down his spine. He shook his head to banish the barbarous pictures of a dead Charlie, drowned in his own blood.

Carefully, Coly continued his approach. He felt his heartbeat skyrocket when he realized the demolition done to the door. Whosoever had broken through it had wanted in no matter what. And Colby knew just one person who had the strength and the obsession to do that.

He had no doubt; Mary Clark was back on the run. He closed his eyes in black despair. He had promised to keep Charlie safe. Tears sprung in the young agent eyes. He had failed so badly. 'How can I live with this? How can I face Don and Alan ever again?'

His sinister musings came to an abrupt end when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Startled he turned his head and found himself face to face with Rodney Brown, leader of the SWAT Team.

"You need a break, Granger?" The older man pressed the words ironically through his teeth. "Guess we should keep on moving."

Colby took in a deep breath and did his best to ignore the criticism. After all Brown was right, when Charlie was still in the house, maybe badly hurt, they didn't have time to waste and if Clark had captured the genius they had even less time.

He bowed his head. "Okay, let's go." But despite his order he didn't move. His legs refused to work; he seemed to be frozen in place.

So Brown did what he had to do, without further words he took the lead. He lifted his fist and soon the group of agents was assembled behind him. He turned around, a faint grin on his lips. Brown nodded his head. "We go in. Everybody, you know what to do." He whispered emphatically. "Let's go!"

A wave of the hand set the group in motion. Colby watched the scene and finally snapped out of his misery and back to life. He had a promise to keep.

Determined to do his job, Colby stepped up beside Brown. The older agent raised his eyebrow secptically.

"I'm fine," Colby assured his teammate and on Brown's sign they moved forward.

The agents spread out in the house and cleared every room. The house was empty; Charlie was gone.

TBC


	30. Chapter 30

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**A huge thank you to starfishyeti!**

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 30. chapter: Hope and tremble *****

"Damn it!" Colby decried the trouble he had found when he'd busted through the front door. Slowly and cautiously he walked through the living room not wanting todestroy any evidence.

His blue eyes took in every evidence of the fight which had taken place here. The side table lay up side down on the floor. Shreds of glass and china were spread all around. Colby kneeled down and grabbed a large piece of a former cut-glass vase. The vase was an old heirloom. The agent couldn't recall how often he'd heard the story of the vase and how it had ended up in the Eppes' hands. The vase had belonged to the grand aunt of Margaret Eppes. Young Margaret had got it for her eighteenth birthday and ever since it had firstdecorated her homeand later her family home.

Colby felt the bitter taste of defeat rise in his mouth. He had failed so badly. He wondered if he would ever again muster the courage to look Alan and Don in the eyes? The young agent sighed. The worst was yet to come; Charlie was gone. He shook his head in misery.

"Granger, over here!" Rodney Brown's voice dragged him out of his musings. He lifted his had and found the SWAT Team leader genuflecting in the hallway to the kitchen. The older man waved him to come over.

Hesitant, Colby made a first step in the general direction, afraid of what he'd find. "What you got?" He had reached the agent and his view followed Brown's pointer.

"Right here. Looks like blood," the man indicated professionally.

Five simple words let Colby's optimism crash to the ground. Silently he had hoped that the situation would turn out as a big misunderstanding, a kind of April fool hoax. He had thought about reasons for the mess all around him. A faint smile danced around his mouth. He had pictured Charlie performing one of his crazy experiments. But obviously it was just wishful thinking.

The FBI agent swayed on his feet and steadied himself against the doorframe. He felt Brown's concerned eyes on him. Colby cleared his throat and did his best to act like the officer in charge and not like the friend of the potential victim. "Maybe it's from the intruder?" Colby interjected in a low voice holding on to the smallest glimpse of hope.

"You really believe that?"

"No," Colby shook his head. A lump stuck in his throat and made it hard for him to speak.

Brown looked up and noticed the fear and pain showing in the young man's face. For the first time he felt real sympathy for the agent. He came up to a standing position and locked eyes with Granger. "This doesn't mean anything. Eppes could be still alive."

Terrified Colby's eyes widened. He swallowed hard. _'Charlie must not be dead!'_

"The amount of blood isn't that much. He may be hurt. But I can't imagine that someone would take a corpse with them."

Colby burst out laughing smittenly. "You have no idea about Mary Clark." Unintended tears shot in toColby's eyes. He tried to cover his weakness and turned his head away.

"Don't, Colby." Unexpectedly insightful, Brown put his hand under Colby's chin and turned him around again. "Charlie is your friend. I see that. And you have every right to be concerned, but don't let your fear and self-pity affect your mind. You need to think straight and clear to save your friend." The older agent clapped Colby's cheek encouragingly. "Let's go back to work. As soon as CSI arrives we can see clearer."

Colby couldn't stop a smile. "Yeah," he sniffed a little. "Let's find Charlie and then send that crazy bitch Clark to hell." Colby's fighting spirit had woken up to life again.

Brown turned away and gathered his team. Together with the FBI they would plan a further line of attack.

Colby sighed, Brown's words had reached their goal, but they couldn't keep him from the next displeasing task. With shaking hands he searched for his cell phone.

_'Don wouldn't be amused about the events of the past few hours!'_

TBC


	31. Chapter 31

A hugh thank you to everyone who is reading this!

Thanks to starfishyeti.

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 31. chapter: Calls *****

Don slammed his cell phone shut and threw it, with the force of frustration, onto the bed. Pearls of sweat had started to form on his forehead. He wiped them away with the back of his hand, but left a damp film on his skin.

"Blast it!" He sputtered out. "I can't get through."

Alan who had witnessed his son's odyssey of dialing, waiting and redialing rose to his feet. The old man stretched his arms over his head to relax his muscles and took a few deep breaths. More than once he had occasionally nodded off. His head had rolled to an awkward position to the side. An aching pain had always woken him up. He had repositioned himself in his seat and had tried to concentrate on his son. But soon sleep had caught him again. In reward his neck was stiff and aching like hell. _'I'm really getting old.'_

"You can't get through?" Even though Alan was exhausted he felt a new wave of fear run through his body sending every thought of sleep into fairyland. "I suppose it's because of the storm front," Alan suggested anxiously in a helpless attempt to soothe himself.

Don's eyes became dark with fear. "I just don't know, dad." The agent plopped down on his bed. His hands wandered nervously across the sheets searching for his phone. His head dropped down heartedlyonto his chest. Tears stung his eyes. "I just don't know."

Alan's body convulsed at hearing those words. His son's tone of voice made him shudder. It was full of fear, helplessness and even pain. Alan could count on one hand the occasions his older son had displayed his inner feelings so openly. With his parental insight and empathy he could interpret the omen. His little boy was in danger; Charlie was in deadly peril. And Don knew it too, felt it in the depths of his heart and soul.

Don sat sunk down on his bed when he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. Reluctantly he lifted his head and looked straight into his father's dark eyes that weremirroring his own fear. He wondered if his eyes also held the same despaired look. He shook his head to get rid of the sinister feelings that were threatening to keep him from thinking straight.

"We should try to make it to the airport. Maybe we'll get lucky and catch a flight. Who knows?"

"But I guess the airport is shut, all flights are cancelled," Alan tried to reason looking inquiringly at Don.

"Anything is better than sittingt here and waiting." Don jumped to his feet. New energy flooded his body. At least he was able to do something, a first step to getting to Charlie.

"Whatever." Alan shrugged his shoulders a faint smile on his lips. He watched his son drag his travel-bag out of the locker. The bag landed hard on the ground. "I see, you have everything under control. I'll go pack, too."

Alan was halfway to the door when the sound of Don's phone made him stop. The old man froze in his movement. "Charlie?" He whispered hopefully and watched his son dashing forward. The agent grabbed his cell phone and peered at the display. Disappointed he shook his head.

"It's Colby," he declared knowing quite suddenly that the call wouldn't bring any good news.

TBC


	32. Chapter 32

Thanks to everyone who is reading the story.

A hugh thank you to starfishyeti!

**The stalker part2**

**by elessar73**

***** 32. chapter: On the run *****

Charlie woke up with throbbing pain in his head and a strange feeling of numbness in his left side. Carefully, the young man opened his eyes to small slits, but pressed them shut again when the dim light, flooding around him, made his headache skyrocket. He moaned under his breath and turned his head to the side, wishing despairingly that he could get away from the pain.

Tears found their way through the closed eyelids and ran freely down his heated cheeks. Charlie took several deep breaths and tried to relax, but snapshots of the latest assault, flashing through his dazed mind, made every attempt useless. He had been sucker punched by Mary Clark and instinctively he knew that he was in the hand of the mad woman.

For a while Charlie let himself drown in the feelings of sorrow and grief. He knew he was trapped and in all probability he would never see his family and friends again. 'I'm so sorry,' he whispered into the silence. Memories and images of his beloved father and brother, friends and peers danced in front of his closed eyes. He could almost hear them laughing and talking and for a brief moment Charlie felt safe and secure. But the moment passed as soon as it had occurred. However, it had left a breeze of reclaimed hope and confidence.

"Think straight, think like Don," he demanded of himself. His big FBI brother wouldn't give in like a wash-out, so neither would he. Despite his hopeless position Charlie felt a warm sensation of love, trust and power building up inside him. Intensely, the young professor tried to remember what his brother had taught him about the right behavior in dangerous situations. First he had to find out where he was and what condition he was in. Measured by his pain he must be bad. Inwardly, the young genius laughed. 'Since when was pain a gauge for something?' He was a man of maths and logics. So his best chance was to act on the basis of facts.

Reluctantly, he opened his eyes expecting the pain to hail down on him again. Charlie held his breath but to his great relief, the pain stayed atbay. Encouraged, he took his time to observe his surroundings. In reality he couldn't see much. It was dark around him but sometimes a passing light breached the darkness. Then Charlie was able to see contours and vague forms. It was a strangely familiar impression, but no matter how hard he strained his brain, he couldn't name it.

All of a sudden the screech of brakes, followed by a jerk catapulting him forward gave him the answer. He was in a car. 'This is my car, of course the familiar smell, the quiet engine noises. It could only be my Toyota hybrid.' A creaky sound in front of him stopped his musings and made him shut his eyes tightly.

"Oh my dear, you're still asleep." A whisperingly female voice flowed around him. Cold, hesistant fingers touched his cheek and strokedhis skin. Charlie didn't dare breathe. He laystiff as a poker and let it happen. "Well, maybe it's for the best. The sun's rising. We need to find a hideout. I guess your friends are close behind us, hunting us like a rabid wolf." The woman swallowed hard. "But don't worry my dear. Mary will take care of you. They won't find us. Not before our destiny is fulfilled." Mary caressed Charlie's skin a last time and tussled his curls gently. Shortly afterwards he heard the engine starting.

Cautiously he opened his eyes to slits and peered into the dawn around him. He sighed in relief when he saw nothing. His thoughts danced agitatedly through his brain. He had got some instructive-information from the woman's monologue. First of all he was in the hands of Mary Clark. The knowledge took his breath away, but on the other hand, he also knew that his friends were looking for him. He trusted Colby, Megan and David enough to find and rescue him. All he had to do was survive. 'Easier said than done.' An afflicted smile flitted across Charlie's face. 'I'll do my best.'

He shifted a little in his position. He felt a hard knot in his back persisting into his skin. But his effort was rewarded with a flood of stabbing pains running up and down his left arm and side**, **making every other pain insignificant. Charlie moaned through clenched teeth praying that Clark wouldn't notice the distress he was in. A few seconds passed and nothing happened. The young genius sighed in relief and risked a first glance at his arm. He remembered well enough that he had broken his left hand in the course of his escape. The sight of his hand made him shudder. He swallowed down the bile shooting up his throat. His hand and arm were badly swollen. The limb glimmered in all the colors of the rainbow and felt numb and painful at the same time.

Tears shot into his eyes. He fought them down and took a closer look. Carefully, he lifted his head. His arm appeared twice as big as normal. Parts of his skin were covered with a dark sheen of dried blood. But most disturbing was the white bone sticking out and pointing upward. "Oh no!" Two unmindful words escaped Charlie's mouth and ended his hide and seek game. He didn't even have enough time to notice the danger.

"You're awake!" Suddenly Mary's face dangled like a waking nightmare over his face. "But you need rest, my dear. I've no time for you right now, but don't worry, our time will come."

"But..." Charlie tried to argue, cringing away from the woman.

"You can't run Charlie, no more." A devilish smile filled the car. With wide eyes Charlie realized Mary's hand was wandering down his body. "Please!" he begged in a fearful voice.

But the woman knew no charity. Like an iron claw her right hand encompassed Charlie's broken hand and pressed tight. Charlie howled in pain, tears ran freely down his face, his head began to spin. An agonising pain captured his body and mind, all he could think about was pain, pain, pain.

Finally the word showed some understanding, it started to turn black, the pain faded away. Charlie felt nameless relief when the darkness dragged him away from the monster above him.

TBC


End file.
